Orenda
by Kesora
Summary: Magnolia has been brewing with unrest ever since summer began, making the town wary of the night. Lucy moved into town near the end of summer vacation and struggles to find her place at school. After a life threatening event, she is recruited by the infamous club 'Mage Exorcism' due to her odd abilities. The club unravels the disturbing events as Lucy's first year at FTA flies by.
1. Trouvaille

**Orenda: (n.) a mystical force present in all people that empowers them to affect the world, or change their own fate or destiny.**

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><p><strong>Trouvaille: (n.) a valuable discovery, or a lucky find; something lovely discovered by chance<strong>

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 1: Trouvaille<strong>

Lucy idled nervously in front of the gates of her new school: Fairy Tail Academy. She knew about… zero people at the school. Why? Because she recently moved into this town on a whim made by her lovely father, Jude. She didn't blame him; they did move around a lot due to his work, and he _had _promised her that this would be the last time (most likely anyway).

She had been in school for at least two weeks now, but she _still _didn't have any friends. It was hard as heck, since she was a tad bit shy. Everyone had already formed their circles, and she had no way of bumping herself into one without seeming desperate. Honestly, she'd rather be alone than try to pretend to fit in with a group she hated, so she decided to wait and see if someone would come talk to her. Everyone always grew hush when she walked past them, eyeing her wearily. She wasn't surprised though, probably because everyone from Fairy Tail Academy went to the same middle school, and the fact that this was her second year of high school didn't make it any easier.

She was oh so lucky that no one from her old school was here. Lucy shuddered at the idea of spending her days at high school lonely, what a debut.

Seriously.

Lucy forced herself to take a step inside the dreadful school, brushing off the loneliness that crept up her spine. She'd get used to it eventu-

"LUCY HEARTFILIA!" She jolted up in surprise and turned around warily to see her homeroom teacher, Miss Spetto, hot on her heal. "You have yet to turn in your club applications! Second years are required to join at least one." Miss Spetto shoved the application at Lucy in a hurry. "I need it as soon as possible; your deadline is by the end of school tomorrow!" Before Lucy could respond, Miss Spetto had already walked into the school.

A club? Like she could join one. She couldn't play volleyball or _any _sport really, so that was out of the question. The Writing Club was already full by the time she checked it out last week, sadly. It was her first choice, and she really didn't want to go into any other club. She felt comfortable at the Writing Club when she got there, surrounded by people just like her…

Lucy sighed in dismay. Sometimes, she wondered why she had such wonderful luck. Lucy continued to ponder as she made her way to homeroom. Maybe she could join the Archery Club? Or Astronomy? She did love stars, so that was another option. She wouldn't be surprised if they were full too though. The Astronomy, Archery, and the Writing Club were on the top ten most popular clubs, so they were probably full. Her eyes trailed down the list. It went from the densest to the least densest, and the second to last club was the infamous…

_(Fairy Tail) Mage Exorcism ; Room E106_

Lucy immediately darted away from the name. No way in heck was she going to join a _paranormal _club. That was just way too freaky for her to even fathom about. She decided on checking out the Astronomy Club, then the Archery club. She was pretty skilled in using a bow and arrow… maybe they'd make an exception for her if their club was full.

"HEY YOU! COME JOIN OUR CLUB!" Lucy jumped, twice this day, from the loud ruckus that snapped her out of her deep thought. She squealed, throwing her hands up in the air in defense as her club application paper fluttered behind her.

The boy grinned at her like a little child, waving the paper in front of her face until she took it from him. "See ya' later alligator!" He winked at her and ventured off to more people, quickly handing out papers as he shoved them into their hands.

"Pink hair…" She grumbled, blinking away the shock as she picked up her club application paper. "Wonder what he was talking about…" Lucy glanced down at the flyer she received. "Eek!" She dropped it as if it were on fire. It was the _Mage Exorcism _club, trying to recruit more people. She threw it in the recycling bin immediately. If that pink haired boy was going to be in there, she _definitely _didn't want to join; he seemed a bit intimidating. Besides, her father would never approve of the club if he ever found out she joined some creepy, paranormal club.

To her dismay, the Astronomy club was full, and she had no spectacular skills to wedge her way into it. Her last resort: Archery Club.

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><p>"It's futile- no one is going to join us, Natsu." Erza rolled her eyes at the pouting 2nd year.<p>

"Then who's going to do the _paper _work for us when we're exhausted?! We're late by two weeks! The old man is gonna kill us in the next annual club meeting!" Natsu whined as he stuffed his face with slightly burnt meat.

"How the hell do you eat that…" Gray muttered as he stuffed his own face with frozen yogurt.

"How do you eat _that_?" Natsu pointedly replied back in disgust at his frozen yogurt. Natsu hated frozen yogurt, or any cold sweets; it always gave him a brain freeze when he did eat one.

"Better than your burnt ass bread and meat!" Gray pointed at it with his spoon, smirking.

"Now, now. Let's not fight you guys…" Lisanna nervously put herself in between the two of them before they caused a noticeable destruction in the club room.

"You're lucky we're not out there flame brain, or I would've turned you into ice." Gray muttered sharply under his breath.

"I would've turned you into crisp before you did that, ice princess." Natsu retorted back meekly afterwards.

"Shut it will ya'?" Erza spat back, slamming the heel of her foot on the table. Natsu and Gray flinched back, sinking into their wooden seats. "Anyways…" Erza started as readjusted her yellow tie, "Makarov has informed us of a disturbing signal near Cherry Blossom Park. We are going to meet in the outskirts of it at the entrance at 6 P.M. I only need about two people to come with me, since we're just going to investigate it. Mirajane will set up the barricade as we do, so we don't have to worry about any passerby coming in on us."

Natsu immediately shot up his hand, a mere second before Gray did. "Fuck you man." Gray remarked bitterly, scowling at him in distaste.

Natsu cackled, an evil smirk smeared on his face as he did so. "Do not fret, Gray-sama. Juvia and Gray will go on a romantic hunt together next week!" Juvia promised, batting her eyelashes at him as he shuddered away from her.

"What if it attacks you?" Laxus questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Then we'll just knock 'em out, what else can we do?" Natsu shrugged his shoulders. This was a regular thing for him to do. Makarov has promised to pay everyone in the club free tuition, which was a grand deal if he did say so himself. He also got a few bucks on the side job, which allowed him to buy as much food as he wants.

This time, if they _did _end up cleansing the place, then Makarov would probably pay them money. Natsu grinned at the thought of it, licking his lips in response to his day dreams.

"If only we _could _get a regular to join, then we'd be able to go cleanse a lot more places. They've been starting to show up recently around this area ever since the school year started again…" Levy murmured worriedly. An ominous feeling wrapped around her throat ever since summer vacation started. She constantly had to look behind her to see if anything was following her.

"Well since Natsu ran around the entire school shoving flyers down people's throats, there's bound to be a person to come join, wouldn't there be?" Gildarts, their teacher administrator, added in lightly with a chuckle.

"Salamander probably scared the whole student body by doing that though." Gajeel sneered, "Idiot."

Natsu shrugged again, not caring whether or not it worked. He was content with the way things, if he had to speak honestly. "If it gets _super _hard we can always drag someone in, and it hasn't gotten to that point yet so we should be fine."

"If we have to resort to that…" Erza shook her head at the thought of it. As much as she hated doing that, if things got to the lowest point, they'd have to do that. "Anyway, I'll end this discussion early. We'll need to prepare for the investigation." Everyone stood up as they gathered their backpacks and necessities. "And-" Erza glowered at them angrily through her dark eyes, "If _any _of you get a grade lower than a B in any of your classes on your progress report, be prepared for _severe _punishment."

* * *

><p>Lucy munched happily on the melon bread; the blissful crunchiness was heaven on her tongue. She had actually gotten <em>in <em>the archery club! She actually didn't think that they'd let her in, since they were already tight packed. They had made her test her skills in front of the typical target; a circular red and white ringed board. She slowed her chewing and swallowed as she remembered the odd events that had happened.

Lucy was zoned in on the target as if it were the only object visible to her. Something threw her off her balance and almost made her miss the bull's eyes. It may have been from the cloud that briefly loomed under the sun, but she wasn't entirely sure. It was for a second when she saw it- a dark figure stood in front of her target with ruby red eyes, and it was _smiling _at her. Not only that, its teeth was sharp, like canine teeth. It disappeared though right before Lucy let go of the arrow in surprise and she had almost cost her position by almost dropping the bow itself!

Lucy rubbed her arms as she tried to wipe away the unpleasant memory. It was probably her imagination anyway. She hadn't seen something so creepy in… well, years ago. It had stopped throughout her middle school years, but she saw them constantly in elementary. She was pretty sure it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but if it was happening now-

"Just forget it." Lucy murmured to herself as she unlocked the door to her room. Each student had their own room in the dormitories, so that was convenient. She lived in the Eclipse Dormitory, and right beside it was the Algeria Dormitory, which was a part of the boy's dormitory. There were two for each gender, so it wouldn't be so packed. Across from the Eclipse was the Lotus Dormitory, and across from Algeria was the Slayer Dormitory. Lucy sighed as she plopped herself on top of her fluffy mattress and goose-feathered blanket. She sunk in nicely; she would've fallen asleep if it weren't for the racket from the Algeria Dormitory.

She peeked towards the window, glancing at it glumly. She didn't know who was across from her from the window, because the curtain never opened. If it ever did, she was definitely going to give the guy a piece of her mind about being considerate of other people. He wasn't the _only _one in the dang area.

"Alright alright!" She heard him shout angrily, and she flinched. How could someone literally be so loud?! "I JUST CAN'T FIND THE STUPID THING THAT MIRA GAVE ME!" He continued to shout, and with very word a nerve in Lucy popped. How could she do homework, or sleep, in this racket?! She angrily stood up, grabbing her back pack and her bow and arrow with her, just in case. She didn't want to get kidnapped, though she knew that was unlikely.

She left the screaming boy to himself as she trudged down the stairs, flashing a few smiles and 'hello's' on her way out of the building. Despite living here for two weeks, she got lost easily in the vast town. Usually she would go to the canal to do her homework when she got out early, but it was probably too dark to go there now. It would be too weird for her to go into a café or restaurant without buying anything… and she was pretty short on money, so that was definitely a no go. Lucy perked up as she saw a park into view; it had bright lamp lights and benches, also, it was pretty, which was a plus to the place. Lucy stopped before entering the park, glancing at the sign when she did.

_Cherry Blossom Park_

_Created by Mavis Vermillion _

What an odd name, but it was pretty in its own wa- "Oof!" Lucy fell onto her butt harshly as she dropped her backpack. "What the?!" Lucy looked up; there was nothing but air in front of her.

Odd.

Lucy huffed nervously as she stood up, grabbing her backpack in the process. "Should probably look at where I'm going…" She murmured to herself, attempting to walk into the park again.

But again, she ended up falling on her butt.

"What the heck!" She retorted angrily, there was _nothing_! Why the hell did she keep on falling?! She huffed out angrily this time. Whipping out her phone she checked the time.

5:56 P.M.

The idiotic boy was probably still screaming his heart out; he was always loud in his room around this time anyway. "I swear… this day can't get any worse." She murmured as she got back up. She backed up this time, rolling up the sleeves of her white button up shirt as she did. She readied herself into a running stance as she charged into the park. For a second or two, she thought she was trying to walk in water as she crossed the boundary to the park. She couldn't breathe; her movements were slow and weak if she attempted to move forward.

She fell onto her knees, bringing her hand to her throat. What was _that_?! Lucy shivered and glanced back at the entrance. It looked as normal as any park entrance could be, but a sudden chill fell over her when she entered. Like she could work in this atmosphere now!

"Just my imagination… tripped over the crack on the sidewalk." She told herself reassuringly, pulling herself up as she brushed off her dark blue skirt for the third time in the last ten minutes. "Just gotta finish homework then I can go home." She smiled to herself in an attempt to lighten herself up. The lights were lit up dimly, emitting an orange glow. A low breeze swam through the air, carefully running through her hair as she walked to the bench that looked the comfiest. She stretched, cracking her knuckles as she got to work.

Lucy yawned as she put down her pen, checking the time on her phone.

6:30 P.M.

She finished quicker than usual- maybe it was because of the creepy feeling she had the whole time? But she always felt like that when she was alone, so it probably wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Still, she hated the feeling even if she was familiar with it.

She quickly packed her things, ready to bolt out of the park as soon as she could. She wavered as she stood near the entrance; she really didn't want to fall on her butt again… it actually really hurt.

"You know, you can't really _get out _right now."

Lucy jumped, minimizing her scream by covering her mouth with both of her hands. She whipped her head around, her heart pounding against her chest. It was a young girl, maybe around the age 13 or 14. She wore a long, plain white dress. Her raven black hair was adorned in white flowers which held her braid in place, and she was sitting on a tree branch.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya'." She waved, jumping down from the tree and landing gracefully on two feet. She grinned, Lucy cringed as she waited to see sharp, pointy teeth, but to her relief they were as normal as a human could be. "Surprised you can see me though, honestly. I've been calling out to people and they just see right through me! Usually I get noticed right away…" The girl sniffled, rubbing her eyes as they threatened for the tears to fall.

"U-Um… are you okay? Do you need me to walk you home?" Lucy asked cautiously, taking a step forward to the girl. She hadn't sensed her presence _at all_. Was she watching her the whole time?

She frowned, but shook her head no. "I just need some company. Some bad people were chasing me, but if I'm with someone else I'm pretty sure they won't be able to find me." Lucy frowned now, was someone trying to kidnap this poor girl? Maybe she could scare them off with her bow and arrow…

"Ah, you don't need to take it out. As long as I'm with someone they'll never get close to me, or hurt me." The little girl reassured Lucy, gesturing her to put the bow away.

"Then why not leave the park? If we leave they won't be able to track you." Lucy offered; she _really _wanted to get out now…

The little girl shook her head no, frowning now. "I _told _you we can't go! We're stuck here!" The little girl was growing impatient; her voice had a certain edge that made Lucy feel uneasy. The little girl sighed, giving Lucy a smile. "They're coming into the park now, so we should probably go in further to hide." She grabbed Lucy's hand; it was deathly cold.

"God, you're freezing!" Lucy muttered with a frown. If the girl continued to walk like this she'd freeze to death…

Lucy took her jacket out of her backpack, draping it over the girl's shoulders. "Thank you!" She piped up with a warm smile, leading Lucy deeper into the park. Now _she _felt like the child; the little girl was practically telling her what she should and shouldn't do.

Wait, wasn't this a little suspicious? Lucy knew what was ordinary, and what was totally abnormal. This was definitely on the borderline of her comfort zone. The little girl's touch was prickly, like stubbed thorns that had been freshly trimmed.

Lucy halted, pulling her hand away from the little girl's fingers. They had ventured deeper into the park now, and the cherry blossom trees had closed around her like a cave. The lamps were dimmer than before, making Lucy shiver. "We should leave. They're probably gone by now." Lucy insisted, biting her lip. The girl had walked a few steps ahead of Lucy after she jerked her hand back, and she didn't turn around. Her white dress fluttered in the wind, and one by one, the flowers in her hair wrinkled, turning brown and falling out of her hair. Her long braid was undone with each flower dropping, until it flowed down her head like a waterfall. Her pale, small fingers trembled as the last one fell to the ground.

"You should've just listened to me, stupid girl." The little girl's voice tremored quietly, her head lowered, tucking down into her chest as she did.

Lucy took a step back gingerly, clutching the straps of her backpack. Something was _definitely _off now.

"If only you followed me like the others, this would've ended so nicely." The little girl laughed lightly; airy and raspy like the wind around her. "But of course this is a special occasion for you."

"What…?" Lucy took another step back, but ran into something. Lucy turned around immediately; a cherry blossom tree was right behind her. Was it always there? What the heck was this girl spouting out of her mouth?!

Lucy glanced up at the trees around flowers on it didn't seem at all that pink and luscious; more like the flowers that drowned from the little girl's hair.

"You're a threat, Lucy; a hindrance." Lucy craned her head back slowly to the little girl, her heart pounding against her chest again, more abruptly this time.

Ruby red eyes and sharp canine teeth.

Lucy shrieked, cowering. She buried her head into her knees as the image burned into her mind. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut- maybe she was dreaming, probably. She had to be. Definitely…

"Lu-cy." The little girl giggled, her light footsteps coming closer and closer, with each sharp inhale Lucy took. How the heck did she even know her name?! Lucy couldn't recall ever telling her it.

Heck, it was a ghost, so the normality didn't apply to this situation at all.

"Lu-cy… open your e-eyes!" Lucy shuddered, tears pricking her eyes. She was petrified- how could she move when some _monster _was sauntering towards her?! Lucy imagined her sharp teeth sinking into her skin, the agonizing pain-

Like hell was she going to let that happen. She had a dang high school to live; she was going to marry a rich guy and buy a mansion and buy all the clothes she wanted to have that her father would never let her wear!

A sudden wave of energy made her bolt up from her fetal position; the girl was right in front of her, grinning down at her. Lucy sprinted to the nearest trail she could find. "Hehe, let's play hide and seek!" The girl giggled, tickling Lucy's ear as if she was running right beside her.

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><p>"Someone's already in here…" Mira stated, hovering her hand over the entrance of the park. It felt sticky, honey-like as she tried to squeeze her hand through the opening.<p>

"Eh? Who else would go in here at 6? People are usually cooped up in their rooms doing homework by now." Natsu remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"This isn't made by any Mage either-" Mira's voice caught in her throat as she drew her hand back. "-a disturbed spirit."

"Which means _someone _is in there, human probably." Erza concluded bitterly, crossing her arms across her chest. "When did they enter?"

"About four minutes before we came." Mirajane stated, "I don't know how long it'll be until I break it open, an hour? 30 minutes? It's hard to say." Mirajane whispered in a hushed voice. "If I transform-"

"No. That will require too much of your energy and we cannot afford that." Erza immediately discarded her idea. Mirajane pursed her lips but agreed. She knew it was a bit of a risk to propose that. "We'll try to scout the area as much as we can and find any weak spots in it while you work on that. Good luck." Erza nodded towards Natsu, who looked back knowingly before darting off into the opposite direction of Erza.

His scarf billowed behind him as he jumped, grabbing onto a tree branch as he swung himself over swiftly. He'd have a better view of the park this way. It was _much _vaster than he had imagined which was definitely abnormal. He could see the odd purple haze, almost invisible, hovering over the park. Natsu grit his teeth; it was definitely a disturbed spirit. Natsu jumped from the tree, diving straight into the park. He landed roughly on the purple haze, just above the park itself. His feet sunk into it briefly, but immediately stopped. He dug his hand into the haze, but it wouldn't budge farther than half way in.

"Damn," Natsu grit his teeth, running across the dome shaped haze to another section that was much fainter than other parts of the purple haze. "Why the hell is it so hard to break through?" It was usually _too_ easy for Natsu to break through their barriers, but why was this so hard? This spirit must've been revengeful beyond a normal wandering spirit.

Thirty minutes must've passed before he found a faint spot in the dome. Before, he had tried to crack it by punching it repeatedly, but to his confusion he didn't even leave a dent. It was hard to see through the purple haze, so he had no idea what was going on in there. Natsu stuck his face as close as he could to it, peering with one eye as he did so. He could make out the shapes of the trees, benches, the lamps. He saw the dim light they emitted, and the sway of the flowers.

He could also see a shadow of a busty teen and a young girl walking deeper into the park. Natsu gulped nervously, why the hell was she following the obviously sketchy little girl?!

Natsu averted his gaze up, trying to find another faint spot in the dome. By the time he did, ten minutes passed. Natsu whipped out his phone- it was 6:40 P.M.

He peered into it again and saw the busty teen running. _Well finally! 'Bout time she realized something was off. _Natsu groaned internally, his eyes followed her until she disappeared into the trees. Natsu angrily shoved his fist into the dome, impatient. Surprisingly he felt the cold whiff of air from the park slam against his fist and he shuddered.

Definitely broke through it. Right on cue, the whole dome dimmed even further, and he was already falling from the sky. He grinned, Mirajane must've weakened it.

He slammed onto the cold pavement loudly, the leaves and flowers whipping away from him from the impact of his landing. The interior was different from what it looked like outside, probably an illusion created by the spirit. Natsu quietly ventured around, hiding behind the trees when he heard a slight rustle.

"Lu-cy. I see you." He heard an eerie voice call out. He immediately hid behind the tree trunk, quieting his breathing as he did. Peering out, he saw the small girl, her eyes ruby red with a terrible grin on her face.

Well no wonder why the teen was running for her fucking life, he probably would knock the shit out of her first and then panic afterwards though.

Natsu slammed his fist together and felt the surge of warmth course through his body, the burning fire made him grin with confidence. "Haven't had to deal with a strong one in a while!"

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><p><em>Dear lord what did I do to earn this?! <em>Lucy chanted in her head. Her blood pounded in her ears as she tried to stay as quiet as she could. It was the… _thing _from the Archery Club! It was actually real?! Maybe she was dreaming?! Lucy didn't know what to believe anymore. Lucy heard a loud thud in the distance, causing the area to shake briefly. Lucy jumped up in surprise, was it the creepy spirit ghost thing?! Lucy crouched down in her spot, inhaling deep breaths of air as she did.

Lucy closed her eyes for a brief second, immediately regretting it. Did she dare open her eyes? Why did she close them in the first place?! Lucy cursed herself silently; of _course _she would close her dang eyes in the middle of running away from some psychotic girl. Lucy peeked through her fingers, the blood draining from her face.

"Found you!" The little girl remarked, her eyes disappearing into her wide, disturbing grin.

Lucy didn't have time to react, her eyes widening as the little girl lunged towards her; her mouth wide open, her sharp nails clawing towards her.

Warmth enveloped her, softening her cringing features. Lucy's shoulders relaxed and she let out a silent breath. Maybe she had woken up; she was probably in her bed, in a deep sleep. Lucy opened her eyes this time, slowly, waiting for the sunlight to shine down on her and to start a brand new day full of sunshine and happy faces.

Bright ass pink hair was the first thing that stood out to her.

Lucy gaped, her mouth open.

"Well get up, don't just _sit _there!" he shouted at her. The spirit was the wall between her and the boy. Lucy shook her head no, terrified of the screaming little girl in front of her. She was on _fire_. Burning, shrieking and howling for someone to help her. Lucy had the weird urge to douse her with water, to _help _her. "Don't you dare fall into her stupid trap! Have you _not _remembered what she just did to you?!" Natsu shouted over her screams, jolting Lucy back into reality.

Lucy nodded, unable to find her voice. Natsu ushered her to come towards him, his eyes desperate and… comforting to her actually. She rushed to him, almost tripping as she did. He caught her before she could fall, pushing her behind him. The little girl's screams slowly turned to giggles, then full on laughing. Her head craned towards them, fully turning around inhumanly.

"Geh…" Natsu shuddered back a little. This was one creepy ass girl. "This is why I try not to associate myself with girls…" He muttered under his breath. Lucy was shaking from the neck down, clutching his scarf as if it depended on her life. "Oi I can't move if you hold onto it like that!"

"S-Sorry…" Lucy murmured, reluctantly releasing it.

"Don't worry, you'll be safe." He reassured her with a cheeky smile. She was still a bit skeptical, but relief set to the pit of her stomach, just for now.

"Ohhh _Mages_! How fun!" The girl giggled, "Annoying twats don't know when to stop." Her voice dripped with venom as she glowered at them, her face expressionless. "I'll devour every drop of your life."

Natsu cackled in response, surprising Lucy by his reaction. "Can't wait to see you try, little girl." Natsu glowered back. Lucy let out a sound that was much like a whimper- a burst of flames bloomed on both of his fist to her surprise, burying her deeper into confusion.

"What the hell!" Lucy exclaimed, taking a step back from the pink haired boy.

Just what the hell was going on? She was pretty sure she said that phrase at least twenty times today. Natsu shouted, lunging towards the little girl. She stood her ground, glaring up at him. She dodged his punch narrowly, but he was able to hit her shoulder. She gasped- small droplets of light fluttered into the sky, disappearing. She growled and lunged at him, baring her teeth.

"Hey!" Lucy squealed out in a panic, pointing towards the girl. Natsu kicked her in the face before she could touch him, pushing her back at least twenty yards. More droplets of light floated into the air. Lucy gazed up at them with wide eyes, mesmerized. They were as bright as stars, fluttering away like faeries.

"Shit!"

Lucy darted her eyes towards the pink haired boy in alarm, seeing the girl sink her teeth into his shoulder. He fell with a painful thud, clutching his shoulder agonizingly. Lucy gasped, unsure of what to do- what _could _she do? For heaven's sake he was some pyromaniac, and she didn't want to get in 50 feet near the girl! Natsu grit his teeth, throwing a flaming punch at the girl's face as she slammed against a tree trunk.

Lucy bit her nails as she tried to think. She could just run away now and leave the boy to her demise- after he had helped her? She would never be able to live with herself. There was another option of averting the little girl's attention to her while she ran, maybe saving the boy's life, but she wasn't _that _kind; she wanted to live too!

Lucy clutched her backpack, conflicted on what to do. Her eyes lit up as she swung her bag over her shoulder, zipping it open quickly as she grabbed the bow, gripping it with her life. Sure, it may have no effect on some spirit, but what did she have to lose?

Lucy grabbed an arrow out of her quiver, shaking as she adjusted it into her bow. "Well, well, a weapon?" The little girl giggled, looking at Lucy with interest. "What an odd girl you are. She is not a Mage, is she?" her attention turned towards Natsu briefly.

"Shut up you annoying brat." Natsu growled, standing up as he cracked his wounded shoulder. He cringed at it, but nonetheless got back up quicker than she would've thought. "No point in knowing if you're just gonna die!" He kicked again, sending an explosion of flames towards her way. Lucy took in a sharp breath, closing her eyes as she calmed her pounding heart. If she was going to try she needed to make sure she was as calm, as possible as she could be in this situation anyways.

She started to break down again as she saw that the little girl had blocked Natsu's weird flame burst, lunging towards him with full speed again. Natsu dodged her a millisecond faster, jumping out of the way.

The little girl's claws had latched itself onto his arm though. Natsu hissed, punching the girl with his free hand, but she just wouldn't budge, even if she was slowly disappearing with every flame he threw at her. "Persistent as hell aren't you?" Natsu hissed, successfully twisting the spirit's wrist and yanking her off of his arm.

Natsu's eyes darted over to the blonde girl, the fear in her eyes wavered for a bit but regained composure. She stood straight, her arms outstretched, her eyes never leaving the spirit's figure. It was interesting to watch, how in zone she was. It was as if everything around her was merely the background to her.

He wasn't entirely sure if her arrow would even work. It might just go right through her since it wasn't specially designed to hunt spirits.

Natsu's eyes widened as he noticed he spent _too _much time observing her, almost forgetting his opponent. He jumped out of the way right before she slammed her claws against the pavement, causing it to crack upon impact. He heard the sudden whiff of wind speeding towards him, and whipped around to see the blonde girl release her arrow, her fingers lingering in the air as her distant eyes followed the arrow's trail. Natsu averted his gaze to the little girl who sneered at Lucy, fully aware that it wouldn't work.

Her ruby red eyes grew wide and she glanced down at her fingers, seeing them disappear into tiny, bright droplets. A blood curdling scream erupted from her clogged throat. She crumpled into a heap on the ground, clawing at her pierced neck. She raised her hands to her face as she watched it flutter away right in front of her.

Natsu blinked.

Her arrow actually… _hit _the spirit?!

Natsu immediately flitted his eyes over to the blonde girl with interest and curiosity. "How did you do-" Natsu held back his tongue as he found herself also in a heap on the ground, unconscious. "Seriously…" Natsu exasperated with a tired sigh, but grinned to himself.

He had found himself a new recruit.

* * *

><p><em>(AN) Hehe thank you for reading this! I've always wanted to write a story similar to this. As the story progresses, everything will make much more sense haha. I will organize when I will post 4KoM and this story; hopefully I'll be able to post a chapter weekly for each story!_

_Don't forget to review!_


	2. Resfeber

**(n.) the nervous feeling before undertaking a journey; the restless race of a traveler's heart before the journey begins, when anxiety and anticipation tangle together**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter II: Resfeber<strong>

"Here you go Miss Spetto…" Lucy shoved the club application at her. Miss Spetto grabbed it quickly, eyeing her warily.

_You're a threat._

"You seem a bit tired today, Miss Heartfilia." She remarked the heavy bags under her eyes and the way her posture slumped forward.

_A hindrance._

Lucy shuddered, stifling a yawn in the process. The little girl's voice wouldn't leave her head, always repeating the same two sentences…

_You're a threat, Lucy: a hindrance._

Her brown eyes darted around the room tiredly. "Had a hard time sleeping last night…" Lucy mumbled back, turning around to sit back down on her seat. Miss Spetto didn't reply back, but Lucy felt her eyes trailing her as she stalked her way to her seat.

Lucy successfully blocked the little voice before her first block, and it flew by fairly quickly to Lucy's luck. Although the whole time she learned absolutely nothing in class- her eyes threatened to fail her if she didn't concentrate on staring at something the whole time during class. Her mind would always fall back to yesterday, but she was too tired to even try to remember it. The bell disrupted her thoughts. All the students gathered their things to go out to break. Lucy also melted in with the crowd, copying their movements as she was pushed out of the door with the rest of the students.

Lucy was whisked away from the crowd, her eyes widened and she clutched her books closely to her chest. "Hey." Lucy heard the familiar voice swim into her ears as she turned around to see who was grabbing her wrist.

"Hey to you too, stranger." Lucy murmured, snatching her wrist away from his grip. Her eyes trailed his right arm unconsciously.

He was completely unscathed!

"Natsu, your upperclassman actually." Natsu sneered a little, causing Lucy to roll her eyes.

"Lucy Heartfilia. Apparently I'm your underclassman." She peered up at the pink haired boy curiously. "Do you need something?" He looked at her, blinking, then looking at her quizzically.

"Don't you remember what happened last night?"

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked, raising her eyebrow. The words slurred out of her mouth before she could stop herself, why was she lying?

"You seriously don't remember." Natsu frowned, disappointed.

"I seriously don't remember." She echoed back. Honestly, she did want to forget about it. If she behaved and believed enough then it won't happen again, was what she wanted to believe. She sucked her lips in; she itched to say thank you to him, but then he'd know she knew, and that wouldn't be so good.

"How can you _not _remember?" Natsu commented back, eyeing her suspiciously. "Are you lying to me?"

Lucy frowned, putting her free hand on her hip. "I am absolutely not lying. Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Join our club." Natsu urged. She could practically feel the hope radiating off of him.

"No!" Lucy said too quickly and she pursed her lips again. "I'm already in a club." She added.

"Well you can join two clubs ya' know." Natsu pestered on.

"Well I think it may be too much of a hassle."

"What club _are _you in anyways?"

"The Archery Club."

"The Mage Exorcism Club is waaa-aay better!" Natsu threw his hands in the air for effect, causing Lucy to roll her eyes once more.

"Oh, please do enlighten me on how it is _oh so _much better." Lucy sarcastically replied.

"Well-"

"No, I don't want to join!" Lucy exclaimed tiredly, clamping her hand over her face. She was seriously _exhausted_; she just wanted to fall asleep right here and now. "I'm tired, just go away." She bitterly snapped, spinning on her heels to walk away from him.

"Wait- out club leader wants to talk to you!" Natsu grabbed her wrist again, whipping her back to face him. His stare made her feel uncomfortable, as if he was _analyzing _her, in some way. "I'm positive you won't be tired anymore after you meet her." He added. "At lunch?"

Lucy was too tired to argue with the persistent boy. "Okay, okay. I promise." Lucy sighed out tiredly, rubbing her temples. Geez, _people_.

"Okay, don't break it! I'll meet ya' at your classroom!" He exclaimed loudly, poking her forehead before he dashed off to who knows where. Lucy rubbed the spot where he poked her, mumbling tiredly to herself as she made her way to the cafeteria. Why didn't he just let it off the hook? Of course no one would want to recall an event like that, who would?

Every step she took drained the energy out of her, ounce by ounce. By the time lunch came around, she was sure she was going to collapse from exhaustion. She leaned against the wall outside her class, waiting for the pink headed freak. Why was she so tired?

"Wait, does he even know what class I'm in?" Lucy murmured to herself, eyebrows furrowed. Her classroom was different from first block, so maybe he hadn't thought that far ahead to actually ask her where it was.

Seemed like it was typical of him to do that though.

"Yo, Luce!" Lucy glanced up, raising her eyebrow at her new nickname.

"Luce? Weird." She whispered under her breath. She stood up straighter, leaving the wall from her support. It was even more odd that he knew where her classroom was.

"C'mon, let's go!" He grabbed her wrist, _again_, for the last 200th time, as he rushed his way to the club room.

* * *

><p>Lucy wanted to moan in delight as the strawberry cake entered her watering mouth; when has strawberry cake ever taste so good?<p>

"How is it, Lucy?" The red haired 2nd year inquired.

"Dewishous!" Lucy exclaimed through her full mouth, trying to smile at her. Although Lucy couldn't help but notice that with every bite she took, Erza cringed.

"That's… great." Erza forced a smile as she stared teary eyed at her last strawberry cake. She reminded herself that it was for the benefit of the town, and that she could buy more later- a whole cake to herself. "Feeling better?"

Surprisingly, she did. Her body didn't threaten to shut down on her, and the strawberry cake tasted better than other ones she had tried before.

"So it seems she has holder magic. What an odd Mage." Erza mumbled quietly, nodding in approval. They hadn't had one before when Erza was in the club. "Fantastic. We would like you to join us, Lucy." Erza demanded as she turned around to face the blonde, whose cheeks were still stuffed with the creamy strawberry cake.

Lucy made a questioning sound, struggling to gulp down the remaining food. "As I've told Natsu-"

"So you've spoken to the co-leader about this?"

"Yes…" Co-leader? He hardly seemed like a co-anything.

"And why don't you want to join us?"

Lucy fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. Should she lie or tell the truth? "I'm already in a club, and I feel as if it might be too overwhelming if I join another club…" Yep, going with the lie again. Truthfully, she could definitely tackle on another club if she wanted to.

"What will it take to make you join?" Erza brushed her statement away as if she had never said it.

"Why do you want to recruit me so much?" Lucy hadn't meant to sound challenging, but Erza took it otherwise.

"Look," Erza slammed her foot at the edge of the table, leaning in. "I know you remember what happened, you're practically transparent. Aren't you curious at all?"

Lucy flinched at the loud noise, feeling smaller than ever as she shrunk back twenty feet. Well, she couldn't deny that she was a _tad _bit curious, but she didn't want to experience it again! She couldn't lie to her anymore; it would be her death wish if she did. Lucy cleared her throat and sat straighter. No one else was in the club room, so it would probably be okay to tell her. "Well yeah-"

"Alright! You're in!" Erza shouted, giving her a rough squeeze on the shoulder; she would definitely get a bruise there. "We'll tell Makarov and get you down to the basics tomorrow!"

"H-hold on a second I never sai-"

"Oh, you'll fit into this club very nicely." Erza smiled at Lucy slyly with an evil smirk. Lucy face palmed herself, slamming her head against the table. Where did she go wrong in her life?! She was too scared to get out of the club; Erza was too intimidating to face head on! _Now _she had to hide it from her father, who practically called her up every night and looked at her school records.

_Now _they were spouting something about a 'Mage'? Weren't those only in games and such? "Okay, first of all, you _can't _put it on my school record." Lucy exclaimed worriedly, "_and _I'm not some 'Mage' or whatever, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Alright, no problem then." Erza eyed her with confusion. "We'll explain that later afterschool or sometime in this week, when we have another club meeting. For now, you'll be assigned your first mission with Natsu and Lisanna the day after tomorrow. It is part of the initiation process that you go with two regular members. If you follow and listen to them, you might make it out alive." Erza smiled briefly before continuing. "Natsu can teach you the basics on the way to your destination. They will meet you at the front of the gate afterschool tomorrow."

Before Lucy could react or ask anything else, the bell rang, and she was suddenly outside the door of the club room by the time her mind could stir up any more questions.

She _might _make it out alive?!

Lucy let out her breath, dangling her arms in defeat. She sulked back to class, moving around like air as people walked pass her. Not only did they _force _her to go on some kind of 'mission', but something was off; she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

Who the heck had initiation for a club anyway?

"Seriously!" Lucy hissed, kicking an empty trashcan on her way to class. She quickly placed it back to where it was; scolding herself for her rash behavior. She didn't want to get in trouble; she hasn't even been at school for a month yet.

* * *

><p><em>Closer, closer closer…<em>

_Closer, closer, closer…_

Lucy opened her heavy eyes, blinking slowly. Her head was spinning for a brief moment before it ceased. A tall glass wall was in front of her, so tall that it disappeared into the sky. The wall stretched horizontally for miles that it disappeared beyond her eye sight. There were murky movements on the other side, but she couldn't make out the shapes through the blue tinted glass. It was uneven, leaving the shapes disoriented on the other side.

Lucy stood up, brushing off her white skir-

What _was _she wearing? It definitely wasn't her school uniform.

Lucy was adorned in a white, frilly halter dress; it stopped at her mid-thigh. A long dark blue ribbon was tied at her waist, draping from her back as it almost touched the ground below her. Her hair was loose in the light breeze, but it wasn't cold oddly enough. Lucy frowned upon seeing she wasn't wearing any shoes. It felt weird, but it wasn't going to hurt her to not wear any. For as far as she could see, the white surface was as smooth velvet, and stretched for miles. Now that she thought about it, it was _really _empty. The only thing with her was the vast glass wall, whatever was on the other side, and light droplets of blue floating in the air.

They reminded her of fireflies, dimming and brightening every so often, but they swayed in the air like leaves. They reminded her a lot of the yellow lights that the spirit, or whatever it was, from last night…

Lucy shuddered at the memory; she still wasn't mentally prepared to remember it yet.

_Closer, closer closer…_

The voice was a soft whisper, inaudible if she had been concentrating on something else. It echoed throughout the area, bouncing off the glass walls and resonated from the soft, glowing dots. It sounded sad, yearning even. Lucy couldn't help but feel her heart grow heavy at the sound of the voice.

It was thick with sorrow and regret that it built up in her own chest. Lucy neared the glass wall, and the shapes were becoming more frequent. They were human shaped, well, that's what it looked like at certain angles anyway. Lucy placed her hand on top of it and shivered. It was terribly cold for a warm place, almost unnatural.

Lucy glanced up, surprised to see one of the shapes coming towards her, walking slowly. As it neared, it remained as a silhouette in her eyes, but it took shape of a human form now. Lucy leaned in, wondering if she could _somehow _see who, or what it even was. Curiosity was itching at her, taunting as it was just a few inches away from the other side of the glass.

It stopped for a few moments, and she just stared at the shape for what felt like years until it finally started moving again. She saw the movement, a hand, reaching out to touch the wall also, where hers lay.

The glass shattered before the shape could touch the glass- anticipating to see the other side of the glass wall, Lucy saw nothing but darkness swallow up her vision, accompanied by a horrendous banging noise.

Lucy squeezed her fist, aware of the goose feathered blanket underneath her.

_Bang, bang, bang_

Lucy groaned a little, turning over on her stomach. She peeked at her clock; 8:27 P.M.

_Bang, bang, bang_

Lucy lifted her head drowsily, glaring at her pink curtain window.

_BANG, BANG, BANG_

The curtain trembled along with the sound, making the hairs of her skin stand up.

Who the heck was banging at her window at this time?! Was it a burglar? Fairy Tail Academy was usually pretty safe… according to Headmaster Makarov anyway. The banging continued, and Lucy stealthily got up from her bed. She quietly tiptoed to her closet, swinging out the metal bat she kept for safe measures. Hell, if the burglar wanted to break in she wasn't going to let him go without a few broken bones here and there.

Without hesitating, she drew the curtains open, holding the bat close to her body as she anticipated the apparel of a lowly man.

A goofy grinned appeared in her vision, and it was on the other side of the building. He motioned her to open her window, and she did so.

"What the heck?!" Lucy shouted at him angrily, leaning out of her window. Natsu waved at her, tossing a rock casually up and down as he leaned outside the window himself.

"Heard ya' joined the club!"

"Out of my control. Forced to really, if you think about it. And it's your entire fault!" Lucy exclaimed, laying the bat against the wall beside her. "Seriously, don't throw rocks at my window! I nearly got a heart attack!"

"Calling your name didn't work what else could I have done?" Natsu shrugged, tossing the rock behind him back into his room.

"So, you're the obnoxious boy across from me, huh." Lucy exclaimed with a sigh, slouching now. She was still so tired and drowsy from her nap, everything seemed hazy in her mind. "And _you're _the cause of what happened last night! If you had been quiet I wouldn't have gone to the park!"

"So you remember?!" Natsu perked up, smiling like a little boy.

Lucy rolled her eyes, biting her tongue back from groaning. "I never forgot about it dimwit. Who could forget something like that?! I just didn't want you on my back the whole time."

"Hey, well you can't lie anymore! That's against club rules." There was a moment of awkward silence as Natsu stared at her intently, as if he was trying to figure something else like he had when he dragged her after first block.

"W-what?" Lucy stuttered, conscious of herself now. If he was going to stare at someone like _that _he should act a bit more subtle!

"You're a weirdo. That's what." He concluded, stretching from his position. "So you're coming with Lisanna and me tomorrow?"

Lucy brushed off his rude comment with an angry huff. "Seems so. If I don't Erza might slit my throat if I don't." Lucy shivered at the thought. It really didn't seem surprising that the girl had a sword hidden somewhere with her.

Natsu nodded in agreement, which made Lucy even more terrified of the red haired beauty. "As long as you go you'll never feel her wrath!" Natsu waved it off. "Don't worry you'll be pretty safe with me and Lisanna, since this one will be pretty easy."

"What is it, exactly?" Lucy asked, curious as to what the club even did.

"Well kinda like what happened yesterday." To Lucy's dismay, that was the most terrifying experience she had ever had. If _that _was a moderate everyday thing for their afterschool club activities… she really just wanted to stick with the Archery Club.

"That was absolutely horrific!" Lucy squealed, dread ran through her veins at the thought of it.

Natsu rolled his eyes, fingering his white scarf. "Luce, it's not that bad. Especially since you're a Mage you gotta get used to it."

"I'm not this… a 'Mage'! What is that anyway? I don't shoot or summon or whatever Mages do!" Lucy countered back loudly. She didn't know why she hated that term so much, but it irked her.

"Only Mages can hurt a spirit like that." Natsu shrugged his shoulders. "It's pretty cool; you can like manipulate objects like that!"

"What?" She was _totally _confused now, and she had been confused with everything ever since she moved here. Everything has been so out of loop she didn't know what was and wasn't real.

"Ya' know for example, that bat," Natsu lifted his head up at it, "if you were to hit that with a spirit, it would hurt it. Basically any weapon you take and use it to attack a spirit, it will hurt it." Natsu frowned and squirmed in his position a little. "Not fair, you can use it whenever then. I always have to be careful…" He grumbled to himself. "Although I think it has to _be _a weapon. A branch probably wouldn't work…"

Lucy couldn't help but laugh. She was still skeptical about him behind her upperclassman, especially if he was so much like a little child. "Anyway," he cleared his throat, putting his hands on his hips, "M.E. is wa-ay better than Archery Club. We'll be your top priority anyway."

"And how are you going to convince me it will be?" Lucy challenged, raising her eyebrows.

"Makarov pays _everything _for you when you join, and on top of that you can go extra money if you bring him those pretty marble gem thingys that the spirits drop after you cleanse them." Natsu puffed his chest out, smiling smugly, as he knew he won the argument by the look on Lucy's face. Lucy's father was already paying for her tuition, but if Makarov was going to pay for _all _of it, it'll save her and her father money.

Lucy felt like she was freeloading, but who _wouldn't _take up the offer?

"I see." She crossed her arms across her chest, puffing them out. "And what are those 'gems' exactly?"

"They are Rechargers. There are two kinds: blue and red. You pop them into your mouth then you have a ton more energy!"

Lucy remembered the bright blue orbs floating around in her dream; were those the ones he was talking about?

"Wait- you _eat _them?!" For heaven's sake they came out of the spirits! Why would someone eat something that a freaking spirit leaves behind?! Lucy wanted to scream at him, but she didn't want to disrupt the others.

He rolled his eyes, as if it was something everyone should know. "Geez, you ask a lot of questions. Your abilities- well actually our abilities feed off of light sources like those. If we don't, then it would take a few days for our abilities to recharge, and sometimes we can't wait that long, duh."

That was probably why she felt so refreshed after eating that strawberry cake- Erza must've somehow put it into it maybe. No, not yet. She wasn't going to admit it until she stayed conscious throughout the whole event, unlike last night. "W-wait, I thought you _cleansed _spirits not eat them!" Lucy exclaimed in a hushed voice. Everything was getting a lot more complicated for her to follow.

Natsu rolled his eyes once more, looking at Lucy with a disappointed look. "We _do_. Who the hell would eat cleansed spirits? That's just _weird_." He shot Lucy the same look he gave her from before, and it made her feel _stupid_. As if she was supposed to know something so out of the ordinary…

Natsu pondered for a bit before speaking up again. "Well… it's kind of like a 'thank you' gift from them cause ya' know how they're actually not bad spirit but were just consumed by their own grief." Lucy formed an 'o' with her mouth as she understood what he was trying to say.

"Well that makes more sense, where do they get it from though?"

Natsu lifted his shoulders, dropping them quickly. "Who knows? It's convenient though- oh, you can only eat those blue ones though. Since you have a different ability from everyone else." Natsu pointed out as he straightened up, stretching. "Well you'll understand more along the way, you ask too many questions that it makes me tired!" Natsu yawned, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "I'm gonna hit the haystack. See ya tomorrow, Luce!" He waved at her, flashing a toothy grin at her before he slammed the window shut, drawing the curtains closed as he left Lucy hanging with more questions than answers.

"And he woke me up early just to confirm I joined…" Lucy murmured, shutting her window, but she left her curtains wide open. She felt more comfortable, since she knew there was someone near her that she could _somewhat _rely on; well hopefully anyway. Too much information was shoved into her head in the span of _one _day. Who was sane enough to store this information in their long term memory in that short amount of time? Lucy shook her head in dismay, smiling a little.

As sad as it was to admit, this was the first time she had interacted with someone for _that _long at the school. It was also the first time someone wanted her in their club that badly. Sure, in middle school people wanted her, but when she said no they usually laid off of her immediately. She found it a bit heart-warming how they wanted her in so much- it made her feel… needed.

* * *

><p>"Oh? You've joined Mage Exorcism?" Kagura raised her eyebrow in amusement as she lowered her bow. Lucy shuffled on her feet with a nervous smile.<p>

"Y-yep!" _Although I didn't really have a choice! _Lucy exclaimed in her head as she sighed internally.

"Well, it's true that they do a lot of extracurricular activities… it can't be helped can it? Just don't slack off in your training and you'll be able to go to the Archery competition in late February." Kagura smiled brightly, clasping her hand onto Lucy's shoulder.

"How odd! It didn't strike me that you were into those kinds of hobbies, Lucy." Milliana piped up, her eyes disappeared when she smiled, and Lucy had a sudden urge to pinch her adorable cheeks.

"Well, it is quite interesting actually. Fascinating?" Lucy couldn't lie about that. It felt like she was living a double life if she thought about it. "But anyway, thanks for letting me stay even though I'll hardly be able to attend afterschool…"

"No worries, I wish the best of luck to you, Heartfilia." Kagura smiled, a glint in her eyes as she said so. Lucy shrugged it off. There was something _terribly _secretive at the Academy, and it made her feel so uncomfortable.

Lucy rushed to the front of the school, five minutes late. Natsu and Lisanna were already there, leaning against the gates as they waited for her. "Sorry! I had to tell the Archery Club something." Lucy explained, gripping the handles of her backpack tightly. "So, what's going on?" Lucy was hoping that they were just going to do some club shopping, but that was definitely just wishful thinking.

"No worries, Lucy." The short, white haired girl smiled at her warmly. "Oh! I'm Lisanna by the way, Lisanna Strauss." She stuck out her hand, and Lucy took it gratefully. At least Lisanna wasn't too hyper- she seemed as normal as herself.

As normal as anyone could get from being a part of the club anyway.

"Well since its Friday, we got _allllll night _to do this." Natsu grinned, cracking his fingers in anticipation of it. "It won't be too hard." Natsu included as he saw the frightened expression created by Lucy.

"And what does it exactly involve?" Lucy was more prepared than earlier, but it was still hard to grip onto the reality of it.

"Books." Lisanna piped in cheerfully, rocking back and forth on her feet. Lucy relaxed- she liked books, maybe they were just doing research?

"Yeah, some spirit possessed it. What makes it worse is that the characters _from _the book are coming out as unsettling spirits." Natsu included as he tried to think some more about it. "I think it's a horror book? No idea how this spirit is doing it though. Not that I don't mind; things will get more interesting this way" Natsu cackled, a fiery spark in his eyes as he anticipated the horrific adventure lay before Lucy.

Lucy almost laughed at her wishful thinking. As if there would be a job that involved sitting around and researching when there was _Natsu _in the group. Of _all _the books the dang spirit could possess, it had to choose a horror book. "Why a horror book of all the genres in the world?!" Lucy moaned, throwing her head into her hands.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Sorry, no action in this chapter! I promise the next chapter will though. (^; This chapter was heavy loaded with information too, so I'm sure it's kind of confusing on how everything works. ;-; Everything will clear up as the story goes on! _

_Orenda will be split into 6 arcs (as of now, might add more if necessary) so it will be a fairly long fanfic. There will be some filler chapters so we can dwell more into everyone's character. (^: _

_Thanks for reading \o/_

_Don't forget to review!_


	3. Serein - 1

**(n.) the fine, light rain that falls from a clear sky, typically after sunset.**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter III: Serein | 1<strong>

"_This is _my _book!" _The small girl screamed, clutching the plain red hardcover book in her small hands.

"H-hey… Isa give them the book!" Her mother urged, gently trying to take the book from her daughter's grasp.

"Why do you want to give it to those strangers mom?! They'll take away the only thing that granddad left us!" The girl stammered again angrily, her grip on the book was unbreakable.

Mrs. Lefay was conflicted, and glanced apologetically at at Natsu, Lisanna, and Lucy. "I'm sorry my dears; my daughter is very protective over the book…"

Lucy shivered at the sight of the book, knowing what it contained. They weren't allowed to tell the girl though- if she knew, that would awaken the spirit and could possibly hurt her- according to Natsu's knowledge anyway. Lucy didn't know he actually thought things through thoroughly, but this _was _a bit of a serious case so it did make sense for anyone to think their actions through…

"Alright sweetie we won't take the book; go to your room. I need to speak with our kind guest in private. Don't worry, they're not bad people. " Mrs. Lefay ushered her daughter to her bedroom, and they were lead down the narrow hallway into the living room. "I'm sorry… my daughter, Isa, is very protective. She was quite close with her grandfather, so she is very protective over the possessions he has given her before he… passed away." Mrs. Lefay bowed her head in apology.

"No worries, it's understandable." Lisanna smiled gently, "Do you mind telling us what has happened so far?"

"Well," Mrs. Lefay started reluctantly in a hushed voice, as if someone was eavesdropping on them. "This has started _before_ my husband's father's death. He has always given books to Isa- any genres, and she absolutely loved them. He recently found the book she is reading right now, and she is halfway through the book." She sighed, her eyes hazy as she tried to remember the events. "He found the book deep inside his old bookshelf, and it belonged to his great grandma. Oddly enough, it was _in _the bookshelf. There was a small square, which I never really thought of when I saw it, but one day it popped open, and he found the book in there while he was cleaning out the bookshelves. It was still in mint condition, and due to his poor health he couldn't read properly anyway, so he gave it to my daughter to read. It was a generally easy book to read, easy enough for a twelve year old to read anyway."

"The book doesn't have a title or an author, which made me quite skeptical about it when he first gave it to her. There was a blank page before the first chapter started, and it simply said: '_To my dear beloved Angela, this is my book to you_.' We never found out who wrote it, sadly. It is a retelling of the story _The Little Mermaid_, I believe. It was a peculiar story, and a rather dark one also." She looked rather distant now, shaking her head as if she tried to get it out. "On to the events that have been hap-"

"Rosie, what is going on?" A man in a suit and tie stood at a door way, looking at the three teens repulsively.

"Darling, they've come to he-"

"We don't need a bunch of teenagers helping us with something that doesn't exist." He demanded, staring at Mrs. Lefay with a hard expression. "We are perfectly happy and content; don't try to break it with this silly nonsense!"

"Harry, you _know _something is amiss! If you keep running away it'll get worse!" Mrs. Lefay was distraught, on the verge of crumbling as tears sprung in her eyes. "You're not even _trying _to fix this!"

"_I'm _not trying to fix this?! It's because you were the one who created this mess in the first place!" Mr. Lefay walked away from them before Mrs. Lefay could retort anything back. Mrs. Lefay sighed and sat back down, her hands streaked down her face tiredly.

"That was my husband, Mr. Lefay. Excuse his behavior- he is quite stressed right now, as am I." She retorted with a weak smile, looking even wearier than before. Lucy itched to hug the poor woman, but had to resist. They weren't allowed to touch potentially dangerous people around spirits because if one were on them or were lingering off of them it could suck all of the lightness out of them, since the spirits took on a physical form. "Anyways, I should probably talk about the cases that have been happening, shouldn't I?" She sighed again and shuddered before beginning.

"Unsurprisingly enough, most of it involves water. Sometimes when I'm washing the dishes, the water turns red, like blood." Lucy cringed at the image; it was just like out of a horror movie. "Or the bathtub water, but after I blink it goes away as if it were my imagination. Our drinking water tastes _bitter, _if that's possible. Rusty even, the after taste of it." Lucy cocked her head to the side. Blood usually tasted bitter, salty… and smelled rusty right? "If we go out to a community pool of some sort, something always goes wrong. Isa almost drowned three times, so we cut off all access to large bodies of water when we go out. Of course, Harry thinks it's just a coincidence, but we still avoid it all together for her safety."

"How did the story go in the book?" Lucy interrupted quickly, feeling a bit guilty as she did. She needed to know what happened in the book before making an inference about what the heck was going on.

"W-well," Mrs. Lefay was taken aback by her sudden outburst, but recovered quickly. "It went along a different route than the usual storyline of _The Little Mermaid_. It was the backstory about how she became a Mermaid in the first place- she was human, but died in the ocean drowning and from blood loss. When they found her body it was covered in stab wounds. The water around the young woman's body was bloody red, but the weird thing is that it was fresh red blood. It was odd because they didn't find her body a week or so later, so how could there be fresh blood around her? They never found the culprit, which is saddening even if it is a fictional piece." Mrs. Lefay scrunched her eyebrows together.

Lucy shivered; _that's _why their water keeps on becoming red and why they keep drowning in large bodies of water… what didn't make sense was _why _this was happening if this book was fiction? Who was the main source of the culprit? Natsu did say that there was another spirit; somehow they were summoning the vengeful spirits of the characters from the book… but how was that even possible? Lucy was left with more questions than answers, as usual.

Lucy was still hung up on the fact that _someone _had actually _dedicated _a horror book to someone. Who the _heck _does that? Dedicating a book to someone they love? That was just plain creepy.

"The book is quite confusing itself, and that was only the first quarter of the book. A few hundreds of years later, a castle was built on the cliff just above where the girl was murdered. It said that from the castle, they'd hear a dull lull coming from the ocean at night, exactly from where the woman died. A maid in the castle would look out the window, out to the sea, and would see a young maiden sitting on a rock. The maiden had a fishtail though, so the maid thought it was just the maid's imagination."

"Question." Natsu raised his hand. Mrs. Lefay couldn't help but give him a small smile, easing at his humorous behavior. Lucy raised an eyebrow; it's not like they were at school, he didn't have to raise his hand. A small smile tugged at her own lips, he eased the tension in the air. Mrs. Lefay ushered Natsu ask his question.

"If this book is so gruesome why the hel-" Natsu pursed his lips, coughing before he continued. "_Heck _did Isa have this book?"

"Well you see, Isa is very fond of dark tales and horror books like these. Her grandfather would always give her books of these genres the most because she absolutely loved the thrill it gave her." Mrs. Lefay seemed to soften at the mention of her daughter, but grew rigid quickly as she continued on with the story. "Ah, we must hurry so you can finish this as quickly as possible. Anyway, the young Prince of the castle saw her one night and was lured down to the bottom of the ravine where the Mermaid was. Usually when someone from the castle did go down there, they were never found again. Days later, their body would be washed ashore with a stab wound on their chest, just like how the Mermaid was killed before. No one thought much of it because it didn't happen frequently enough for it to be something disturbing."

Lucy's feet grew cold, how the _hell _was that not disturbing for them?!

"The Mermaid finds the Prince interesting and alluring, so she doesn't kill him. Surprisingly enough, the Prince found her fascinating, while the others called her a monster and a beast. Years passed by where they would meet each other every night during a crescent moon; because that's the only time she was able to come up to the surface without being burned." Mrs. Lefay clasped her hands together as she remembered a detail. "Ah, in this story, mermaids and such are those who have died in the ocean, and usually feed off of human souls, which is why she kills them. Of course they fell in love, and she wanted to become human. She was weak when she went to the Witch of the Sea, since she didn't kill a human for years after she met the Prince. The storyline is very similar to the original version, but she doesn't turn into bubbles at the end. The Princess who was to marry the Prince killed the Mermaid and the Prince." Mrs. Lefay frowned at the memory of the scene. The story was intriguing to Lucy that she wanted to read it herself. If only it wasn't a haunted book, she would add it to her collected… Lucy sighed softly in disappointment.

"Ironically enough, the Princess is related to the one that killed the Mermaid when she was human. The Prince got in the way before the Princess was able to stab the Mermaid; so instead, the Princess killed her to-be husband." Lucy's eye twitched; the story was beyond disturbing and twisted, it was odd for a 12 year old girl to like such a sad retelling.

"The Princess stabbed the Mermaid as she was crying over the Prince's dead body, laughing hysterically as the Mermaid died. Before the mermaid had died, she had gouged the Princess's eyes out. The Princess became blind in the end, living her life wasting away in prison with guilt and vengeance on the Mermaid in the afterlife. By the end of the story, the Mermaid and Prince were scattered among the stars, and can only be seen when a crescent moon is out at night." Mrs. Lefay's voice was hoarse now from half an hour of explaining the story to them. Lucy and Lisanna were dumbfounded, digesting the contents of the story in them slowly. Despite the horror elements, it was just as sad as the original story, and a bit haunting in the end. "Did the story hopefully help you? I'm terribly sorry if I had just wasted your time-"

"Nah, it's better if we understand the content of the story." Natsu looked lost, but the words that spilled out of his mouth was convincing anyhow. "When your daughter is sleeping, get the book from her and we'll do it from there. Let's put your family back in place." Natsu responded back gruffly, resting his elbows on his knees. "The spirits are linked to the book, right? They'll most likely be lured to the main source, so if we can get them away from here it'll be safer for everyone." Mrs. Lefay's eyes brightened up happily as she gave them a quick nod and hurried upstairs to retrieve the book.

"There's something off about the story." Natsu stated when Mrs. Lefay was out of ear shot.

"Why do you say that?" Lucy was sure Natsu didn't get the premises of the original story.

"The place sounds really fam-" Natsu abruptly stopped talking, snapping his mouth shut.

"Here is the book-" Mrs. Lefay said from upstairs as she hurried down, setting it onto the table. "My daughter was sleeping, so I was able to pry it from her hands. If you need anything else, I will be upstairs."

Lucy averted her gaze to the worn out book on the table. It was a dark, rich burgundy color. It was wearied down at the edges, revealing spots of white. Lucy reached out for it, about to open the book. "Lucy!" Natsu roughly yanked her arm back just as her fingers brushed the cover of it.

"W-what?!" Lucy stammered; a wave of uneasiness drowned her. Lucy glanced at his stern face, then back to the book. A dark looming figure huddled it, the shadowy fingers gripped the edges of the book. Lucy felt the blood drain from her face as she saw it.

"Don't touch things out of the blue like that!" Natsu shook her arm again, jolting her back into reality.

"Right, sorry." She breathed out, rubbing her fingers on the sofa to get rid of the numb feeling. She had to restrain from shuddering again as the dark figure vanished.

"Shall we investigate before we head off?" Lisanna wondered out loud as she flipped the book open.

"Lisanna-!"

"It's okay, she has takeover magic. She's fine." Natsu assured. "Although it isn't as strong as Mira's since hers is demon takeover…" Natsu muttered under his breath. "But she can't hold it for too long, so we gotta go."

"…what?" Lucy asked, completely confused now. Natsu was terrible at explaining things, not that she was surprised, but it got irritating when she couldn't understand what he was saying.

"It's a type of ability, kind of like how Natsu can use fire and things like that. I can transform parts of my body into types of spirit animals that I purify. I can't absorb demons, since my ability only pertains to animal spirits." Lisanna explained as they averted their attention back to the book. "Sooo basically I can hold this book without having it eat my light, but it only lasts for a few minutes or so, but I can handle seven minutes tops before the side effects start."

Lucy nodded; she knew how these things worked, but she never _understood _any of it. What were the origins? The purpose? The side effects? Lucy shook the questions out of her head; now wasn't the time. She had to focus on the book and help the family, even though she didn't want to do _any _of this in the first place, that didn't mean she should put little effort into helping them.

She saw the messy, cursive handwriting of the person who gave the book to Angela. "Hey, hey, lemme see it for a moment." Natsu quickly tugged the book over to his side, careful to make his movements quick and swift so it wouldn't affect him too much. His eyes dilated halfway through the book, and his face lit up in recognition. "Okay, let's go." He ordered. Without any questions, Lisanna took his word and tucked the book under her arm as they quickly made their way to the door. Lucy stumbled behind them as they gathered into the car.

Lisanna tossed the book in the backseat next to Lucy. She found herself slamming against her seatbelt as Lisanna stomped her foot on the gas pedal.

What the heck was going on? It was as if they could read each other's minds. "Natsu? Hey!- Oh boy…" Lisanna groaned, slowing down the car as they made it onto the freeway.

"_Just drive faster!_" Natsu coughed out as he rolled down the window, heaving big gulps of cold air into his lungs. "Just get this over with as _quickly _as possible…"

"Motion sickness kicked up at the wrong time…" Lisanna grumbled, slightly pitying the green colored boy. "Hey, tell me where to go! I just assumed you knew where to go for the purification?"

"R-Right…" He muttered under his breath. He started breathing through his mouth, which seemed to make him feel a little better. "Well the book takes place in a real place not too far from here. It's at Glowstone Beach; I remember goi-" He stopped abruptly and stuck his head out the window to gulp in more cold air. He sighed as he returned to his seat comfortable, but never started up the sentence again to Lucy's disappointment. She hated it when people just stopped at midsentence.

Lisanna seemed to brush pass his odd cut off, as if on purpose, and pursued the other statements he said before. "Really? Glowstone Beach? I've heard of it but never actually went there. What makes you think it's based off of that place?"

"The descriptions mentioned; the cliff and the castle. The stairs in the books are _exactly _like the ones at Glowstone Beach. They both lead to the ravine where the weird fish girl was."

"She was a _mermaid _Natsu." Lucy corrected quickly.

"Yeah, whatever. She still had a fish tail." Lucy could practically hear him rolls his eyes. She stuck out a tongue at him to see from the rear mirror, and he tried to return it, but almost threw up on the dashboard in his attempt to. Lucy tried to refrain from laughing at his pathetic state, but couldn't help but let a giggle or two escape her lips.

"Ugh…" Natsu groaned out the window. His arms swayed outside the window, making Lucy nervous. After what seemed like an eternity of watching Natsu almost puke his guts out, they arrived at Glowstone Beach.

The sun was long gone now, and only the dim light from the crescent moon shined any sort of pity light upon them. "Wow, the stones actually glow?" Lucy breathed out. It dazzled in her eyes- they were just like stars, except they were closer. The large cliff was spotted with glowing dark purple and pink, splotches of navy blue and gold outlined them.

"Yeah…" Natsu trailed off with a murmur. Lucy glanced up at him skeptically. Why was he acting a little different now? He looked normal, and felt a whole lot better after the car ride stopped. He turned to his head to the left and gazed up. Lucy couldn't see his face anymore. "Well, there's the castle." He pointed at the same direction his head was turned to. Their eyes followed his finger; the large, dark shadow was close enough to see that it was a castle. "It's abandoned though; most of it is probably rubbles by now."

"You know a bit about this place don't you?" Lucy remarked, crossing her arms over her chest as her eyes continued to gaze at the castle. There was something… enchanting about this place. She couldn't pin point if it felt eerie or relaxing.

"Over there is the ravine. Let's go." Natsu completely disregarded Lucy's question. She frowned, but decided to forget about it. If he didn't want to tell her, he didn't have to. It still bothered her though; her curiosity usually got the best of her.

The stones weren't as bright as Lucy thought they were, but bright enough to make her squint if she stared directly at it. She could see the constant flow of it between the cracks of the rocks; it was fascinating to watch, and a bit weird at the same time. "And the stairs are over there…" Natsu trailed off. The soft sand beneath their shoes turned into crumbly rocks as they walked deeper, and soon they were climbing over boulders.

The stairs were steep and narrow- no railings supported it. Just looking at it made Lucy shiver at the sight of it. If you had one misstep you'd fall face first into the unforgiving boulders. "Ah, I can't hold this any longer!" Lisanna whined as she tossed it onto one of the steps. She rubbed her palms on her skirt, as if it would get rid of the numbing sensation.

"Hey, let me see." Lucy grabbed her fingers, turning her palms up as Lucy brushed her own fingertips on Lisanna's red hands. She knew what it felt like, and rubbing them on fabric didn't help it at all.

"You have to keep them cold… it'll disappear faster that way." Signs of blistering were popping up, but it would disappear if she stopped holding the book.

"How'd you do that?" Lisanna exasperated, glancing at Lucy in complete shock. Lucy returned the exact same expression, confusion mixed into her own.

"Do what?"

"_This_!" Lisanna waved her palms in front of Lucy. It was hard to see what Lisanna was trying to show her, but her hand was back to normal.

"I-" Lucy flinched back. She shook from the sudden pain that shot up her arms. She blinked once, twice, and then it disappeared, but a dull pulse replaced it.

"Lucy?"

"Hey, let me see your hands." Natsu demanded, grabbing her shoulder as he spun her around to face him. His rough, calloused hands clasped over her own. Pain shot up her finger tips as he roughly brushed it, making her wince. His eyebrows furrowed together. "Now _you _have it…" He whispered in a hushed voice, surprised and just as confused as Lucy.

Lucy glanced down at her hands- they were just as bad as Lisanna's- red and slightly bumpy, except now the blisters were starting to form. Lucy frowned, disturbed by what she saw. Goodness, was that what Lisanna was about to put up with the whole time?

"Oh no…" Lisanna grumbled with worry. "I'm sorr-"

"Hey, it's not your fault I should've been more careful…" Lucy wasn't sure, she was even _more _confused. How did that even happen? Just thinking about all the swirling questions in her head gave her a headache, and on top of that, her hand was burning up. The thought of Lisanna having to put up with it for the past ten minutes made her shudder. "I'll be fine, let's just get it over with." Lucy spoke up, snapping the two of them out of their thinking.

"Right, better hurry." Natsu mumbled. He eyed her briefly with worry, but looked away quickly. Lucy felt her cheeks grow slightly warm, accepting that it was probably because of the pain in her hands.

They faced the book now, which seemed to have grown even more ominous over time. If this really was the place where it originated from…

"It'll be easier to get the spirits bound to this book outta it if we bring it back to its original place." Natsu completed her train of thoughts, cracking his knuckles.

"So you're saying the characters-"

"-based off of real people, real events, but of course the story was twisted and changed in some ways." Lucy shot him a glare. He kept on interrupting her sentences, which was weird by itself, but creepy at the same time. He smirked at her expression a bit relieved since she was smiling. Not to emotion that he probably enjoyed annoying her.

"So now you have to _force _the spirits out of the book?" Lucy asked, her eyebrow rose as she eyed Natsu. How the heck can someone do that? Throw holy water on it? Throw fire at it and burn it? Could _anyone _just do it?

"Alright, let's go!" Natsu shouted with excitement.

"Do what? Go where? What are we supposed to even do?" Lucy sighed out with a murmur. She was getting frustrated with the immensely growing number of questions she had.

He raised his arms and brought them together. Out of the corner of Lucy's eyes, something bright red burned onto the side of his right shoulder. It was some sort of symbol; it glowed even brighter than the glowing stones. Lucy's eyes widened as a bright, warm sensation engulfed her. She looked up, just in time to see him throw a large ball of fire straight at the book.

Lucy's mouth gaped open and shouted over the explosion.

"You actually throw fire at it?!"

* * *

><p><em>Sorry! Just kidding no action in this chapter either LOL. Next chapter will definitely have some though, so no worries!<em>

_I just noticed there are hardly any line breaks LOL. Oh there's a lot of story overload too on the book, ehe, it came out on a whim while I was writing. c;_

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter (^: _

_Don't forget to review/fav! _

_Thank you for your support!_


	4. Serein - 2

**Chapter III: Serein | 2**

"Hey, hey… don't make a big scene, Natsu." Lisanna murmured with a nervous giggle. "He's going to burn down a whole town one day, no doubt about that…"

"Ehehe now _that _is more like it. All of them will come out now!" Natsu grinned as if he had just won the lottery. "I'm all fired up!" He shook out his hands as more flames appeared on each fist.

"I know you're one of the few in the club who can force them out but contain yourself! The next time you throw a meteorite at something you'll blow up half of Fiore!" Lisanna scolded, bending her knees as she got ready herself. Her bright blue eyes seemed to shine even brighter than before. Lucy nervously took out her bow and slung her quiver over her shoulders. She licked her lips, taking deep breaths as she glanced at them.

Honestly, she didn't know how to prepare for whatever was going to come, or prepare in general for any of this. "Get ready, Luce!" He smirked, glancing at her for a brief second. His green eyes shimmered as bright as the Glowstone rock and Lisanna's eyes shone just the same. Lucy frowned. Was she supposed to activate or something? She didn't know how to do that, and they never told her how!

Before she could ask, a blood curdling scream vibrated in the air around them. The ground shook along with it, the tremor almost throwing the three of them into the jagged rocks behind them. Lucy rolled off to the side before her head could hit the rocks; her heart was pounding hard in her ears as she regained her composure, coughing out the sand in her throat. She scrambled to her feet, relieved that her bow hadn't snapped in half. Lucy caught Lisanna in the corner of her eye; wings replaced her arms, swiping with full force at the shadows dancing around her. Lucy darted her eyes away- she had to get used to the odd things happening around her; it's been happening too much that she shouldn't be surprised anymore.

Lucy drew an arrow from her quiver, holding it ready to release as she got up from her knees.

"Just pretend they're targets… red and white targets…" She murmured to herself. They shot left to right, zig zagging too fast for her eyes to follow. She failed to keep up with their speed in her eyes, the anxiety made her want to scream out in frustration.

"Lucy." A face appeared in front of her, smiling as if they had known each other for years. Her eyes opened, revealing black holes of darkness, blood streamed down as the woman turned into a sobbing fit. "Save him."

Lucy's head snapped back as she was roughly shoved to the ground. She released her arrow blindly, hoping to hit whatever had pushed her down. Her fingers trembled as she grabbed for another arrow. She had forgotten how nerve wracking it was; the feelings from the first night she met Natsu choked her throat; the little girl, her haunting voice, the words she said…

How could she do this if she was terrified? She was immobilized in her spot; petrified. Her hands still burned from the weird wound exchange she had with Lisanna; well, at least Lisanna could fight properly now. She was more experienced anyways. Lucy bit her lip and forced herself up. No one was going to save her all the time; encountering Natsu the first time was just pure luck, and she couldn't depend on that.

"Damn, there's a lot!" Natsu muttered, kicking a dark spirit in the stomach; to his surprise, he didn't go right through them like he usually did. He expected the usual doses of yellow light to float away into the sky, but these guys were actually _solid_. Small droplets of light floated off of it, but other than that, the figure was more agitated than before. Natsu ducked, narrowly dodging a fatal blow to the head. As he leaned back, he threw his leg forward, successfully landing on his backflip while hitting the spirit in the chest, right at where the heart would be at. It staggered back a few steps; the dark shadow clutched at the area where Natsu hit. It burst into thousands of shimmering droplets, swirling into the sky.

Natsu struck another one in the chest- the same thing happened. "Lisanna!" He shouted as he pushed his way to her, making sure she was in ear shot. "Hit them in the chest! Where the heart is!" Natsu couldn't go any further towards her, so he had to hope that she had heard him through the groans and banshee shrieks. He jumped out of the way as a dark streak almost smothered him. It smeared against a boulder, disinigrating it upon impact. Natsu gulped nervously.

Was Lucy doing okay? He almost forgot about her- he was so immersed with not getting hit and making sure they didn't initiate the contact with him.

He saw her in the distance, between the blurs of the shadows and the fast movements. She had just shot an arrow; a lucky shot he assumed, since it hit the spirit that pushed her down. Natsu was allowed a breath of reassurance as he saw her get up unharmed, but she stopped moving and just stayed on her knees; frozen. He grit his teeth together angrily; what was she doing?! She was going to kill herself if she kept on acting like that! Natsu knew he wouldn't be able to make it there in time to block an attack for her, just like befo-

An arrow whizzed passed by Natsu's head, taking him by surprise. It pierced the shadow behind him; a headshot. Natsu finished it off by jabbing a hooked punch to the chest. He ducked, blocking another blow from the other angry spirits. Natsu didn't have time to see Lucy, or else he would have his head chopped off the next time he tried. He swiftly made his way to Lucy so to tell her where she should hit. He accidently shouldered her in his process of dodging another blow. "Yo, princess." He grinned; she rolled her eyes at her newly found nickname, but didn't say anything. "Hit the chest; where the heart is. That'll kill-er purify them." He corrected quickly, causing Lucy to shoot him a look of disapproval. "Duck!" He ordered, pushing her head down with him as another streak of black shot at their way. "Roll!" Lucy quickly rolled away from the path of the black streak. She was still sloppy in her movements, but it was fine by Natsu if it still worked in keeping her alive.

The black streak dropped on the ground, where they were just were. It melted at least five feet into the sand, separating her and Natsu. Lucy gulped nervously. "You're welcome! That was in return for savin' me with that arrow from earlier!" Natsu shouted at her. "Close into the group! I don't know if Lisanna can handle all of 'em like that at once!" A small smile bloomed on her face as she wrung out another two arrows, shooting them simultaneously. She still wasn't too good at shooting more than one arrow, but as long as it hit them, it should make them weaker.

Lucy's face was stern and hard; she was too stiff and she kept darting her eyes around too much. Natsu's eyes fell over her hands, which weren't getting worse, but they weren't getting better either. They trembled slightly; he looked back up at her and noticed the subtle fear: the tremor in her lips, her eyes whisking back and forth, her aim was a lot more sloppy than usual too, but she was _trying_, and that was exactly what he needed.

"God, I'm going to die here!" Lucy chanted under her breath with every arrow she let fly. She jumped out of the way of an incoming fist, landing painfully on the ground. She scrambled onto her feet as fast as she could, letting off another blind shot into the air.

"Lucy! Shoot the book!" Lisanna shouted as she twirled, creating a gust of wind that knocked down any surrounding spirits around her. "Natsu is too far, and I'm getting caved in, hurry!" Lucy nodded in response, unable to find her voice in the adrenaline.

"C'mere filthy spirits!" Natsu shouted, gathering a huge ball of fire over his head, blasting it at a large group. He averted the attention of other spirits, who quickly made their way to Natsu. Lucy didn't let the moment slip, wheeling in another arrow as she shot towards the book. The woman from earlier appeared in front of it; her mouth was wide open as if she was trying to scream, but no voice came out of her mouth. Lucy shuddered and the arrow took a messy turn to the right.

"Save him, save us." The woman mouthed, she turned her head to another ghastly spirit who was in agonizing pain, huddled on the floor in a puddle.

"Lucy!" Lisanna screamed impatiently- Lisanna was already near the edge of a cliff. Lucy jolted out of her thinking and immediately took out another arrow. She pointed it towards the book, but the woman stood there hauntingly, repeating and mouthing the same four words over and over.

She couldn't hit them with the arrows and save Lisanna at the same time; loading the arrows would take too long. Lucy slung her bow over her shoulder and picked up two decent sized rocks. "Let's just hope Natsu was right about me…"Lucy grumbled as she tossed the rock in the air, catching it firmly in her fist. She grunted as she threw it towards the crouching shadow and the woman, hitting them square in the chest. Lucy wove her fingers around her bow again, letting the arrow fly into the air as it crashed into the book seconds after. She could only hope that she hit it.

Lucy sucked in a deep breath of air, expecting it to be cold and harsh, but she clasped her hand over her mouth. It felt as if the air around her was sticky and thick, almost making her lose her breath. The shadows were shrieking and howling even louder as they were getting pulled into each other, morphing and changing into one. Lucy gazed at it in disgust- she felt the mixture of hatred and anger radiating off of it.

"So much for an _easy _job…" Natsu grumbled, tugging at his scarf. If he knew how complicated this would be, he would've asked Erza or Gajeel to tag along. It was too late to ask for any of their help now; by the time they contacted them they would be attacked in a second. The three of them would have to finish this off themselves, and hopefully come out of it alive.

"Ah, you've got me now." The figure chuckled lightly. She was a constant flicker between a dark figure and a human- her eyes were an icy blue, almost white. Her black hair blended with the misty dark fog that rolled down her dress like snakes. Her neck craned over to Lucy unnaturally as the dark lady opened her mouth, the corners of her lips tilted up. "Let the weight burden you, darlings."

Lucy could've sworn a boulder smashed her in the back, weighing her down, but as she positioned her head to look, there was nothing on top of her. Her legs and arms shook from the immense, powerful weight, and it didn't just physically hurt- it was as if it were weighing down her mind, bringing back up painful memories she tried so hard to mend.

Lisanna gasped, her eyes dilated as she started to scream hysterically. Lucy gazed at her with concern as she attempted to crawl her way towards her. The shriek pierced her ears, tugging up her own undesirable memories into her mind. The sand felt sharp underneath her clothes and skin, like tiny needles puncturing every inch of her body. She could hardly move, no matter how many effort she put into it. Out of the corner of her eye, she was surprised to see the pink-haired boy to be fighting against the weight, and he was actually winning. He was struggling at first as it was pulling him down from his feet, to his knees, to his hands. A glazed look came over his face, and he went back on two feet as if there was nothing at all.

The dark lady looked over at him, narrowing her shadowy eyes as she did so. "You will be the death of yourself, boy." She didn't faze at first under his glare, but started to grow uneasy as he advanced towards her. She moved her arms, swiping it down in an attempt for him to fall, trying to trigger his greatest fear in him. She stood tall above him, but almost seemed to shrink as he was mere inches from her.

"You were weak before! The weakest of them all! Fall-!" She growled, raising her arm to swing dangerously at his face. Her fingers morphed into sharp, thick knives, ready to pierce him. Her fingers came dangerously close to his neck, but he caught her wrist before it could pierce his neck. His left hand started to turn bright red as he squeezed her wrist harder. It didn't seem to occur to him that they were forming under the contract with the disturbed spirit; his only focus was on what was in front of him. His other hand burst into flames as he held onto the other wrist that she had tried to sneak to him, and it burned upon contact. The dark lady shrieked, the pitchers were low and high, faint and loud as if a thousand souls were imbedded into her.

"Do you feel no remorse, child of fire?!"

Lucy's breath hitched in her throat as a pointed, dark spear tip emerged from the dark shadow figure, closing in on Natsu's face. He narrowly dodged it, a clean cut brushing his cheek.

"'Cause, I already lost everything." A low voice, a mere whisper that was carried into her ears by the wind that made Lucy shiver. She had no time to recover or register his comment as the crushing weight was about to close off her airway. Lucy's mind went hazy, her visual perception danced in front of her eyes as they faded in and out of her vision. She gripped handfuls of sand into her palms as she struggled to get a grip on reality. Her ears popped at the sound of the explosion, an array of red and yellow filled up her vision as her eyes widened.

Lucy squinted her eyes in front of her as she tried to keep her vision focused, but all she could see was the battle between Natsu and the dark lady in front of her. She couldn't depict anything that was going on, other than the feeling of the heat radiating off of Natsu.

A finger-no, a hand, two hands, filled in her vision, in front of her, extended out. The right one was pale, their fingers long and slender, beautiful. It was forgiving, gentle and relaxed. The left hand was black, as if it was wearing a glove. It remained strong, firm, and reassuring, despite its appearance. Lucy wanted to cry- the pain that was weighed down on her was painful, an inexplicable pain that she hadn't felt since she was young, and it had resurfaced back into her. She had tried so hard to forget it, to leave it be, but it always came back to haunt her- in a form of a nightmare or in fragments of her imagination. Sometimes in the corner of her eyes she could see _her_, standing there, watching her. Lucy's body felt numb, but she drove all of her force into grabbing those pair of hands as it lingered there willingly, to help.

She gasped out, choking on the stale air that was trapped in her lungs. She rolled onto her back, heaving deep gulps of crisp, cold ocean air. Both of her hands held something slightly heavy in them, her fingers laced around the small object firmly. Her hazy eyes glazed over them: golden keys, the both of them delicately made with odd engravings and symbols. Lucy knew these signs, but couldn't pin point exactly where they were from.

Her eyes couldn't follow the bolt of blue and red light for long. They shot out in every direction, towards the dark figure as it continuously shrieked every time they pierced her

_Go up on the cliff, if you don't wanna die stupid girl_.

Lucy narrowed her eyes in annoyance, clenching her teeth to refrain from making a snarky come back. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.

In, out.

In, out.

She launched herself towards Lisanna, crouching down beside her as she shook her arm. Her eyes were closed and her breathing went ragged, as if something was clogging up her throat.

"Natsu! Get over here!" Lucy shouted. Her voice felt raw and scratchy, as if the sane was rubbing against it every time she spoke.

He came faster than she had expected, catching her off guard as a sweltering heat banged against her skin. "What's going on?" He questioned, looking at her expectantly.

"Like _I'd _know! We gotta get to the cliff- help me carry Lisanna!" He grunted as swept under her left arm to help Lucy. The roaring water around her kept her from thinking at all. The only thoughts that spun in her head were the sound of the ocean and the hot sand beneath her feet. Lisanna struggled to keep her eyes open, exhausted from the loss of energy, but was able to keep conscious the whole time.

Lucy snuck a glance behind her and immediately regretted it. The water was coming in _fast_, and at this rate they were going to get swallowed up by the ocean itself. She glanced at Natsu's ashen face as he realized what was happening, but he showed no sign of giving up as he pushed them to walk faster. Lucy bit her lip, knowing that she was slowing them down. She sprained her ankle earlier before, and it was almost unbearable now.

If she let Natsu take Lisanna, then they would be able to make it in time…

Heck, what did she have to lose?

Lucy ducked under Lisanna's arm, grabbing Natsu's hand and placed it on her waist to keep her from falling down. Her hands moved on her own as she gave them a little push, giving them at least a few more seconds to make it to the cliff. Lucy struggled to concentrate her hearing on his voice, but it was washed away by the sound of the roaring ocean. He stopped and turned around as he helplessly looked after her. She focused her eyes on the ground and didn't dare to look back up at him as she stood there. Even if she did try to catch up to them it would be a pathetic attempt. She could feel the hot sand becoming moist. She let out a breath of relief as she saw the top of their heads bob up and down as they rose into higher grounds.

Well, at least she did _something _good, right?

The water lapped at her ankle, and she braced herself as the water slammed against her back. Each muscle in her body collapsed on each other as the salty water filled her lungs, drowning her into an endless darkness.

* * *

><p>The soft humming of a vehicle rumbled in her ears as her daze faded away. Lucy sighed peacefully; the sweet air filled her lungs, making her want more of it. Her eyes fluttered open, her hands folded gently on her lap. She blinked a few times before absorbing her surroundings. She was in a train, made up of sky blue seats and white interior designs. She gazed out the square shaped windows, seeing nothing but the vast whiteness, just like before, with the cyan glowing blue crystals.<p>

Her hair was adorned in a French braid. The dress around her was an array of red, orange, and yellow- another halter dress. This one felt much more comfortable to move around in, since it was more flowy and gentle.

The train continued to rumble on, for hours, days, weeks maybe. Lucy couldn't tell, and she didn't mind. She needed a breather. Her mind was still hazy. She _was _missing something, she knew that much, but couldn't pin point exactly what it was.

It finally slowed to a stop, the sound of the doors opening echoed throughout the quietness of the place. She took quick, light steps to the doors, glancing behind her as the train rumbled back to life, leaving her in the white world, Glass World, is what Lucy decided to call it. "Again… the glass is there." Lucy mumbled to herself as she walked towards it. Halfway there, she decided to look back, only to see any trace of the train and the rail road tracks gone.

Lucy's eyes roamed back to the glass wall, but the figure from before was gone. She trotted over to it, her bare feet slapped against the cold ground, making her shiver.

Lucy saw two figures waiting for her near the glass wall, but no matter how many times she tried to get closer, they stayed the same distance, and it was as if she was walking in the same place over and over. Lucy groaned out in frustration and stopped walking. They both stood out in the white room, along with the floating blue crystals. She couldn't depict much of them, only the colors present on them and their figures… the outline of their bodies. The man was adorned in red, white, and black. The woman by his side, oddly enough, was a mermaid. Her sky blue hair was slicked back, a vase tucked under her arm.

"The one closest to you will cross the other side." The man's mouth moved slightly with the voice, taking Lucy aback slightly. It was haunting in her ears, deep and resonating. "Do not-" His voice got cut off like it was from a radio. Static rang in her ears as his voice flickered back on. "-cross the boundary to the other side."

"But," The strong voice of a woman appeared, yet it was soft at the same time. It was the same voice that had told her to go up onto the cliff from before. The blue haired maiden's lips moved, her eyes remained unblinking. "-_he _will. He will be-" The faded voice abruptly shut down. Both of the figures flickered away like static from a television screen, ceasing to exist. The soft buzzing in the air purred to a stop, and it was dead quiet. Lucy remained just as still, afraid to take even a breath of air.

The woman's voice was a slight whisper, but somehow was as loud as a storm. Lucy could hear her in her head, as if she was speaking right into Lucy's ears.

"-the death of you."

* * *

><p>"-UCY!"<p>

She was jolted back into her body with a rough shake, causing her head to spin in circles. Her throat burned immensely.

"Dammit open your eyes!"

"Natsu-! Your being too rough! Stop shaking her so much! Hey-! Don't _slap _her!"

"She's not waking up, what if she doesn't? What if-"

"God, you're gonna give me a headache…" She muttered quietly. Her voice was hoarse as if she hadn't spoken in years. Every breath she took made the burning in her throat worse. Her arm covered her eyes, drowning out the voices of Natsu and Lisanna so she could concentrate on getting clean air into her throat.

The waves of the ocean were calmer than before, quiet even. She cracked her eyes open, Natsu was still hovering over her, only a few inches away from her face. Her face grew warm as she slid her arm back over her eyes.

"Is she brain dead now or somethin'? She isn't moving Lis…"

Lisanna groaned, "_Natsu_. She just needs to recollect herself; for goodness sakes she almost drowned. Let her have some air!" Lucy felt the waft of warmth near her face disappear. The rigid cold air made her shudder, but it did make her feel more awake. Lucy hefted herself up onto her elbows as her head gazed up at the sky above her. The sky was covered in a blanket of clouds; soft droplets pelted her face gently. To her left, the large hole Natsu blasted into the cliff wasn't there anymore.

"How do you guys fix the damage?" Lucy muttered.

"The light that they leave behind- it also fixes the damage done in the area." Lisanna replied back as she helped Lucy up. "How are you feeling…? We thought we… lost you. You were gone in a second and the water swallowed you up…"

"I'm … my throat just hurts a bit." Lucy sighed out, scrunching her toes in as she felt the soft sand fluff up beneath her. Well, now she knew she should probably never wear sandals to things like this.

"Alright, maybe you should rest here for a while. I'll go search for the book and then we can head off." Lisanna squeezed Lucy's hand before heading back to the beach.

Lucy had almost forgotten Natsu's presence; he was so quiet after Lisanna shooed him away. She didn't realize how relieving it was to see him again, someone familiar. Although she had just met him days ago… it felt like she had known the two of them for years by now.

His back was to her, but she could tell something was amiss. His fingers on his side twitched slightly, from anger maybe? She didn't know. He didn't have anything to be angry about though, right? She was alive, breathing.

_But are you really?_

Lucy shuddered and immediately brought down a wall between her and the unknown voice inside her head. She blinked again, shaken to the bone. She grunted as she stood up, pain shooting up her leg from her sprained ankle. Warm hands cupped her face, calming the shuddering slightly. She jumped at the sight of him; she didn't see him walk towards her.

It was Natsu, warming her up silently. He must've mistaken her shivering from being cold. His rough hands trailed from her cheeks to her shoulders to her fingers. She was too tired now to feel embarrassed or to kick him in the face for touching her. The spell she felt was broken when he stepped back from her, his head cocked to the side as he pondered. She frowned at his furrowed eyebrows, mirroring the same expression as him.

"Hmmm, what the hell? Might as well. Don't kick me, please."

Before she could respond she was attacked by the warmth that burst throughout her body like fireworks as he embraced her into a bear hug. A laugh bubbled from her throat, and she couldn't contain it. She felt like a maniac for laughing in this situation, especially since her throat hurt like hell, but she couldn't help it.

Her laughter was contagious, making Natsu's anger melt as he laughed along with her. He couldn't stay mad at her forever. Natsu knew if he was in the same situation, he would've done the exact same thing Lucy did.

Her laughter subsided after a few moments, and she could feel the tears well in her eyes as she gripped onto the back of his torn, white button up school shirt. She buried her face into his shoulder; now _this _was definitely embarrassing, crying in front of someone. She was _terrified _about the thought of almost dying, but what scared her even more was that she didn't give a second thought about losing her life.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep in the tears. She couldn't cry, she didn't want to. Not because it would make her feel weak; she didn't care about that. It never made her feel better, and it made her feel like a mess, like thousands of puzzle pieces that couldn't be put back together. It wasn't okay to cry, but she knew it _was _okay though. But her Father… every time she did cry, he made it seem like it was a disgusting thing to do, pathetic.

"Hey, it's okay to let it out."

_I know it's okay, but it's not_. Lucy wanted to shout at him out of frustration with herself. But all she did was let out a small sound in response as she shook her head.

She felt him shrug, his tense shoulders drooped down. His tight hug became loose now, gentle. His arms were tucked on top of her shoulder comfortably, his hands held her shoulders, pulling her in closer, if that was even possible. His hand softly stroked her tangled hair, smoothing it out with every touch. She concentrated on his breathing- it tickled her neck every time he inhaled and exhaled.

She let out a quiet sigh as she loosened her own grip. It surprised her that he didn't pursue on, trying to make her let it out like many of her other friends at her old school did. She knew they had good intentions, but it made her feel even worse when they tried to tell her that it was better.

It felt like an eternity until he said something, and she was slightly disappointed. Even though her ankle screamed in pain, she was more comfortable than she had ever been in her life since her mother's death.

"So!" He quickly parted from her, and the rush of coldness swept over here once more. "I forbid you to ever do that again, because I will be pissed as hell, and I won't be as forgiving next time." His voice was light hearted, but Lucy could sense the tinge of strain on his words. He gave one last pat on her head, flashing her a grin. Lucy let out a sound of surprise as her legs were swung into the air. The aching in her ankle subsided as she was cradled perfectly in his arms.

"Man, this request definitely drained the energy out of me." Lisanna yawned, stretching her arms as she walked alongside Natsu.

"Still gotta tell them that everything went well though." Natsu grumbled sleepily, adjusting Lucy so she wouldn't fall. "That was one hell of a spirit though, an odd one."

"What makes you say that?" Lisanna inquired curiously. Lucy was half conscious by now, drifting away from the weariness and from the sway of her body every time he took a step.

"She, it, whatever it was, said something about…yss…d…rea…about…cy…"

His voice drowned out of her ears, turning disoriented and murky. She let go of the string that held her conscious, and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p><em>Hope you enjoyed this chapter! c^; This is the last part for Serein; the next one will be some sort of a filler chapter, I think heh. <em>

_I apologize if there's any spelling mistakes or any type of error in here, I only skimmed through it before posting oho. PM me if there are any mistakes so I can fix it!_

_Don't forget to review/fav! :^D_

_Thank you for your support!_


	5. A Haunting Nightmare

**Chapter III.I: A Haunting Nightmare**

_A/N: Filler chapter!_

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><p>Lucy peeked out of the corner of the school building, hefting the strap of her backpack up before it slipped of her shoulders. Seeing that the coast was clear, she hurriedly made her way to the front of the gate.<p>

Ever since she almost drowned from the first mission they went on, Natsu popped out of the blue in front of her.

Everywhere.

Every day.

She'd look up and out the window during class, and she would see him waving at her. The first time it happened she almost fell out of her chair from surprise. She was sure he had class, but his grades seem to be high enough for him to be able to stay in the club.

During P.E. she would see him behind the fenced gate, waving at her some more. In almost every class she saw him watching her intensely, and she had no idea why.

"It's kind of weird, Levy." Lucy mumbled one day during lunch. Today, she had secluded Levy and herself to the roof top to avoid Natsu so she could, well, talk about him. "He pops up _everywhere_."

Levy giggled, slurping the Jell-O up quickly as she eyed her. "Hey, he's just worried about you! I mean you almost died in front of his eyes, and he cares about his friends _a lot_." Levy emphasized the last word with big eyes.

Lucy squirmed in her position, keeping her gaze down. She was never used to this much attention towards her, there was only one other person who ever did keep their gaze on her…

Lucy shuddered at the memory and pushed it back. No way was she going to remember it at this time. Not in front of Levy, never in front of them. "Doesn't he have class though?"

"Sure he does- Makarov catches him before he fails the class anyways though, so it's usually fine when he does things like this." Levy munched on her tasty French bread, temporarily in heaven from the taste of it.

"I guess so… but it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable…" Lucy murmured as she stuffed her face with her strawberry parfait.

"You gotta give him credit though- he did stay with you the whole time you were knocked out for those three days." Levy pointed out. She put down her spoon now and stared at Lucy sternly. "Seriously, don't ever do that again. You gave the Principal and all of us a life threatening heart attack!" Levy shuddered and angrily smacked her arm. "I will bring you back to life and kill you if you do it again!"

Lucy couldn't help but laugh. "Well…" Lucy really didn't have an excuse, because the action she did was inexcusable according to Levy. "I was just thinking quickly, Levy. Natsu even said he would do the same thing, so I thought it was just… a normal reaction." Lucy shrugged as she sipped on her green tea.

Levy rolled her eyes at that comment and narrowed her eyes at Lucy. "Only _you _and Natsu would be able to react and think as fast as that. You're way too kind, Lu-chan!" Levy gave her a warming smile.

The door to the roof creaked upon, causing Lucy to jump in her position. Did she dare glance at whoever opened the door?

"There you two are! Lucy, Levy." Erza beamed with a smile as she opened the door wider. She shut the door behind her with a firm force, smiling once more at them. "Lucy… I'd like to talk to you about the situation with Natsu." Lucy let out a breath of relief, was someone finally going to tell him how far he was going?

"As you know, Natsu has been very… clingy lately. To you." Erza nodded as she sat next to them on the ground, neatly tucking her legs under her. "As much as I'd like to help you with this case, it seems that you'll just have to endure it until he stops." Lucy deflated.

"So I'm _never _going to have any privacy?!" Lucy exclaimed with her mouth full of food. She excused herself as she swallowed the rest of it down her throat. "I mean it's sweet of him and I'm fine with- well I'm not bothered by it but it's just that he probably shouldn't be skipping classes for doing this. What is his motive anyway?" Lucy rambled on with a slight complaint in her tone.

Erza sucked in a deep breath, preparing for the long lecture of explaining things fully to Lucy. "Well, let's start from the beginning. The club 'Mage Exorcism' is actually just a branched off, let's say, training program for the actual company. It's to train incoming young teenagers who are interested as a real Mage Exorcist for the company, which is called Fairy Tail. As you can tell, this high school is named after it because it is funded by the Fairy Tail Company, but of course not every student knows about this. Not everyone has magic in their system. For some odd reason we have the highest percentage of humans who have potential of becoming one, which is why some of the clubs actually have knowledge about Fairy Tail. They are also a branch off of the Fairy Tail Company."

Lucy wondered if her father knew about any of this, maybe that was why he was so harsh on her about her decision to go here than the other private schools.

"Anyways, back to the main topic. Fairy Tail Company also funds an orphanage, where most of the people in our club live at. Lisanna and Natsu were best friends when they were younger. Her siblings, Mirajane and Elfman were strong enough to go on missions like these by themselves because they excelled in their abilities. The Strauss siblings went on missions a lot, and, well… Lisanna died when she was 15."

Lucy couldn't keep the shock off her face as she leaned back. "W-wait… Lisanna… dead? She's, but she's here- she's _enrolled _in this school! She's tangible! Are you saying-"

Erza held up a hand to stop Lucy midway. "Lisanna came back this summer. Makarov wouldn't explain the details, all he said was that they were able to 'open up the other world' and get her back. When Lisanna died, not a single trace of her was left, not even her body." Erza pursed her lips. Levy's posture had grown slack; her eyes were just two empty dark pits. "But, she changed. She was different when we visited her. She was much weaker, fragile. A single trip could cause her to collapse on the ground. Her face was sunken and- sorry, I'm going off track." Erza sucked in a shaky breath. "I've said too much- you should ask her to find out more of the details. My point is, Natsu almost lost someone dear to him that time. Sure, you only knew him for almost a week, but when he first met you, at that park, I knew he would care about you more than you would ever know, Lucy."

Lucy casted her eyes down as she looked guiltily at her bento box. "He is afraid that he will lose you like how he lost Lisanna because he wasn't there for her. He was helpless, and he hates to feel that way. I hope you can treat him with the same care he has for you, which I don't doubt you will." Erza smiled at her softly as she gave her a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Geez Erza, you know how to make it all tensiony and awkward!" Levy forced out a shaky laugh, fingering at her sandwich.

"That is the duty of club leader, is it not?" Erza smirked. "I apologize if I disrupted your pleasant lunch. I just wanted to tell you as soon as possible so you weren't too weirded out by his peculiar behavior-"

"_Yo_ Flame brain has been lookin' for you since lunch started! And he can't keep his trap shut for a second!" Gray groaned as he kicked the door opening, welcomed with a deathly glare from Erza. "Sh-shit Erza's here too?!"

"LUUCCYY-!" Natsu barged through the door, knocking Gray over. He immediately stopped in his tracks as Erza's eyes darted over to him. "E-Erza!" He squeaked and stood up straight, hauling Gray upright with an expression as if he had eaten something sour. Lucy peeked out from behind Erza, offering Natsu a small smile.

Natsu perked up and dropped his act as he jogged over to them. "Heya! I've been lookin' for you everywhere! Levy, don't hog her all the time!"

"_Excuse _me?! You have been hogging Lu-chan this entire week! Scratch that- ever since she came back to school!" Levy stood up to face Natsu now, her voice was just as loud as his. A warm feeling started at the pit of her stomach, warming her up until she felt like summer itself. She never really felt this before, but she was ecstatic, happy. A laugh escaped her lips and she threw her head back, laughing loud into the sky. She wasn't used to this, used to someone fighting over her, or caring this much about her.

"W-what's wrong- AUGH!" Gray was tackled to the ground again momentarily by Juvia, who cuddled beside him.

"Juvia has finally found Gray-sama!" She purred heartfully.

She couldn't comprehend why they were so kind to her. Lucy's ecstasy faltered as she remembered that none of them, Natsu was an exception, knew that she was _his _daughter. She doubted Natsu would know who Jude Heartfilia was, and if the other's found out then… would they react the same way as her old friends did?

* * *

><p>"Natsu… you really don't have to walk me back to the dorms." Lucy frowned as he walked beside her, hands in his pocket with his head turned up towards the sky.<p>

"Sure I do, you know. Just in case anything happens." He shrugged and flashed her a grin. She went to the convenience store to buy some snacks, which was about fifteen minutes by feet from the school, and about twenty to the dorms. Natsu was too insistent; she couldn't help but feel bad if she didn't let him come along.

Lucy wondered if it would be a bad idea to bring up the whole Lisanna discussion with him. It just seemed obscure and _odd _to ever see him so sad.

"'_Cause, I already lost everything." _

Lucy had almost forgotten those soft spoken words from their first mission together. Was he referring to Lisanna because of that incident? Maybe she could probe into it more, she practically knew nothing about him and-

"Hey, we should be partners!" Natsu sputtered out randomly.

"P-partners?! For what?!" Lucy's face blew up with redness. Was he referring to be partners as in _lovers_?! "N-N-Natsu! I've only known you for.. for like two weeks! I'm flattered but I-"

"Partners for the club, duh?" Natsu cocked an eyebrow towards her. "You're a weirdo- what else would it be?"

Lucy threw her arms in the air a shouted out in frustration. "You're going to be the _death _of me, Dragneel!"

He cackled a laugh, "So is that a yes?!"

Lucy stopped in her tracks, closing her eyes as she brought her fingers to her chin, pretending to ponder intensely at his offer. She opened one eye up to peek at him, smiling as she saw him fidget nervously as he waited for her answer. "Sure, I guess I ca-"

"AWESOME!" He shouted ecstatically, wrapping his arms around her and swinging her around like she was a doll. "We will be the strongest team that Fairy Tail has ever seen!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who ever said that I was going to join that company?" Lucy halted him in his tracks quickly with a frown. That was out of question, heck, her father didn't even know her friends were crazy strong people. Did he even know she had friends at all? He set her down and stared at her.

"Wha-? You're not gonna?" Natsu pouted with a frown. "Whatever, I'll convince you to anyways!" Natsu shrugged his shoulders.

She rolled her eyes and laughed at his declaration. "I thought Lisanna was your partner?" Lucy asked as she stole glances at his face. His face remained unchanged. Lucy frowned. He was good at hiding things he didn't want others to see, wasn't he?

"Well, I mean we were in the past." His eyebrows scrunched together. "But we kinda grew apart about two years ago- we do missions together every once in a while, but never alone together." Natsu vaguely answered. Lucy nodded. At least he wasn't lying. It was true, two years ago… when he was fifteen something did happen.

"Why did you guys grow apart?" The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could think about what she said. Was it too quick to ask? Abrupt maybe? Lucy dared to glance at Natsu, and he was staring straight back at her with hard eyes. Lucy shuddered under his gaze. How could he go from being adorkably cute to as scary as a dragon in less than a minute?

He tore his eyes away from her, his hard eyes thinning around the edges as he trained his vision to what was ahead of him. "People change when you least expect them too, right?" he tilted his head back over to her for an answer.

"Mmhm…" She reluctantly replied back, it sounded more like a squeak instead. He smiled at her again, but this time it was soft, unlike his ear to ear grins and smiles. It made her feel uncomfortable, and she felt guilty for punching at his weak spots like this. Well, everyone had their secrets, and it would take a lot more for them to open up anyway. Lucy knew from experience and she thought it was ridiculous about how _she _was trying to open him up when she was inexperienced herself.

The rest of the walk was silent, which was completely odd for Lucy. She would make comments here and there about the sky as the starts started to pop out, naming them each from memory. Natsu wouldn't say anything, sometimes giving the occasional 'whoa'. His eyes sparkled as his gaze was trained back up to the sky, just like earlier. Lucy felt the relief that life was returning back into his green eyes, and swore to never bring up the subject again unless he did.

"Anyway," Lucy started as the school came into view, "When am _I _going to get that tattoo thing that you have?" Lucy pondered as she lifted up the sleeve of his short-sleeved button up white shirt. There was nothing but bare, and might she say, _very _toned tan skin. Lucy grew flustered as she tugged the sleeve down.

"Oh!" Natsu straightened up his back at the question. "You get it once you 'prove yourself true', whatever _that _means." Natsu shrugged. "I mean I think Makarov or sometimes Mira has this kind of stamp thing, and once you, uh, 'prove yourself true' it'll show up once you use your magic. 'The stamp unlocks the door, but you have to open the door by yourself,' is how Makarov first explained it to me! The old man is weird…" Natsu laughed and Lucy laughed with him. It was weird not hearing him laugh at least fifty times a day. "You'll probably get it tomorrow or somethin'."

"Awesome… fantastic." Lucy muttered at the thought of 'opening the door', whatever that meant. To Lucy's dismay, they stopped in front of the Eclipse Dorms. "Well! Thanks for walking with me, Natsu." She turned around to face him. "I'll se-"

"Lucy! You've got mail!" The dorm keeper stuck her head out of the building as she handed it to Lucy. A letter? Lucy had never gotten one before. Natsu could see the surprise and happiness in Lucy's eyes, so he decided to stick around a little longer. Lucy eagerly examined it. The only word on the front of the envelope was her name, written in a nice, neat cursive.

Lucy tore the envelope open and took out the letter; Natsu took the envelope out of her way so she could hold the letter with both hands.

_Dear Lucy Heartfilia,_

_Lucy, it's been a while! We all miss you here, and we're all hoping you're enjoying your new high school._

Lucy frowned, the way this person spoke and wrote was familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint who it was- well, her _mind _wouldn't let her.

_We've heard you joined 'Mage Exorcism'. I know we didn't leave off in good terms, but I'm desperately asking for you to help us- our school is in danger, and we need you and your clubs' help as soon as possible. I will try to arrange that you will not meet Sting-_

Lucy dropped the letter as if it had burned her. Natsu was calling out to her, picking up the letter and trying to hand it back to her, but she was too far, her hands clutched the side of her heads. "No… it can't… not _him." _Lucy muttered almost inaudibly in her own ears. The name, _Sting_, sung in her head like a broken record_. _Her mind was just trying to protect her from _him _and from that school, from her old town that she had desperately tried so hard to forget.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" Natsu whispered softly as he shook her shoulder gently. His comforting voice broke the shock she was in, but she shook her head. Her lips cracked into a forced smile as she took the letter and envelope from him, shaking her head in reassurance.

"I think I'll take this one back to my room, I- I'll see you tomorrow." Her voice was a whisper, as fragile as a thin sheet of glass. Just one more word and she would've lost it. Lucy jogged into the building before Natsu could utter a response.

She slammed the door behind her shut, locking it to make sure no one would unexpectedly come in. She eyed the letter as if it was a demon itself, but she forced herself to continue reading.

_-or Rogue, but I can't make any promises. They are still my dear friends, and I still __believe__ in Sting, I'm sorry Lucy. I just can't believe that he would do something like that. As much as you still despise the others, as your old friend, I am begging you to help us- to help me. Please respond and text or call me at xxx-567-4783. We've been friends since we were kids, I still trust you Lucy. _

_-Yukino_

Lucy crumpled up the pristine and neat paper and threw it across the room. "How _dare _you!" Lucy shouted at the air, her breath coming out in low, short gasps. "How dare you…?" Lucy collapsed against the door of her room, her voice becoming airy as she the tears slipped down her cheeks. She buried her face into her knees, sobbing silently as her hands seem to burn from merely laying a finger on the letter.

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><p><em>Totally intended for this to be a happier chapter, but something happened and it ended up being the set up for the next arc of the story! As you can tell, Sting won't be a good character in this story, sadly, so sorry if you are disappointed about his character!<em>

_Again, this is a filler chapter, or a prequel chapter to the next event. It was mainly written to spark some relationship building of some sort and to gain some more information, so I hope it did its job (^: I apologize if there is any mistakes hoh~_

_Stay tuned for the next chapter!_

_Don't forget to review and/or ask any questions!_

_xoxo_


	6. Misanthropy - 1

**(n.) a generalized dislike, distrust or disgust, contempt, or hatred of the human species, human nature, or society.**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter IV: Misanthropy<strong>

"Natsu, skipping classes again?" Natsu tore his gaze from Lucy and darted his eyes towards Makarov. He grunted as he sat up from his laying position, turning around fully to face him.

"It's whatever, nothin' new anyway… only chem." Natsu mumbled.

"I don't think Fairy Tail would like it if they saw you were skipping classes on your report…" Makarov chuckled as he came to sit next to Natsu. "Keeping your eye on 'er, eh?" Makarov nodded his head towards Lucy, who was jogging next to Levy around the track field. Natsu nodded, his head sunk into his shoulders.

"This is a nice view- roof tops; but this has got to be your worst hiding spot, Natsu."

"Who said I was hidin'?" Natsu narrowed his eyes at the Master, but Makarov only returned his glare with a laugh.

"What's been bothering you to keep such a close eye on her? I don't take it that the only thing is 'cause you, uh, fancy her." Makarov tried to play his words carefully, but Natsu made no notice to his choice of words.

"A few days ago I was walking her back to her dorm from the convenience store, and then she got all weird after she got some letter, I didn't get to catch the name though. I don't know where she put the letter either…" Natsu explained. "Ever since then she- whoa!" Natsu's hair was whisked back, his eyes stung from the sudden burst of wind overcoming then. "What the hell-"

Makarov was in front of him, holding out his hands above him. They were encased in a translucent blue sphere, protecting them for the storming ravens swarming around them. "That was too close for comfort…" Makarov grunted. He brought his hands together in front of him, then swiftly threw his arms to the side. The blue sphere expanded out, as it disappeared, pieces of it latched onto the black ravens. They burst into light yellow droplets. Natsu watched them disappear into the sky with a frown.

"Thanks Pops," Natsu darted his eyes back down to Lucy and Levy, but they had already gone in to change out of their P.E. clothes. "What was _that _though?"

"Well, that's a good question." Makarov mumbled, his eyebrows knitted together. "That's very odd- I was sure Freed put a protective barrier over the school. How could they have gone in?"

* * *

><p>"Ehh? You haven't seen Natsu at all today?" Levy widened her eyes in surprise. "Wow that was pretty quick then. I thought it would be <em>years <em>to be honest." Levy laughed.

Lucy couldn't help but feel at least a little disappointed on that. She knew she shouldn't have expected much, but after all of that ruckus that came along with it, it let her get her mind off of things. Well, she couldn't blame him. She was still somewhat avoiding him after the whole letter incident. Who wouldn't be suspicious after she reacted like that? She shook her head- they were _partners_. She shouldn't be avoiding him in the least bit. She shouldn't let her personal feelings get in the way of things like this.

"Yeah, at least things will be normal again." Lucy chirped up happily. Luckily, her P.E. class was her last period, so she wouldn't have to be smelly for the rest of the school day. She'd take a nice bubble bath when she got home and think about Yukino's request. She delayed it for a week; maybe it was time she responded back. She still considered Yukino as a dear friend, but it was complicated.

Lucy stuck her dorm key into the lock, she sighed as she twisted and pushed the door open.

Lucy's muscles relaxed as her body sank into the water- her worries melted away briefly. Lucy submerged herself into the water for at least twenty minutes. She felt the warm water splash her face, realizing that she had flinched upon the loud noise outside her door. Lucy slid the bathroom curtain open and frowned. She glanced at the counter, realizing she had forgotten to get her clothes. She didn't want to wear her school clothes again after she had gotten cleaned up.

It was her room, wearing towel in her room couldn't be that odd, right?

Lucy made sure the towel was tucked tightly and neatly on her body so it wouldn't fall off every time she attempted to take a step. The door to her bathroom shook again right as she was about to unlock it. Lucy bit her lip and drew back. "Natsu?" She squeaked nervously. There was nothing but silence on the other end of the door. "Levy?" She tried once more, but again she was responded with an eerie silence. Lucy shivered, which was a bad sign. The heat was still beating down on Magnolia, what else could be giving her shivers?

Lucy had absolutely nothing to defend herself, heck; she didn't even have a plumber. Levy said if she needed one she could have her spare one that she never used, but Lucy had forgotten about that in all of the chaos. She couldn't contact anyone either… her phone was in her backpack. Lucy wasn't eager to die in the bathroom.

If Lucy could get to the door, she could go next door and go to Levy.

Lucy sucked in a deep breath of air and tried to stop the trembling in her hand as she reached for the door knob. She creaked it open, still there was no sound. She opened it wider, her room was just as she had left it. Lucy let out a breath of relief, walking towards her bed for her phone for reassurance. Lucy shuddered from the sudden wind that brushed her bare shoulders. She frowned and looked at her window. The curtains were drawn; the glass was wide open…

She didn't remember opening it up when she got back, and it was definitely closed when she came in. She walked over to it, only to have the air knocked out of her. Lucy blinked the black dots away from her eyes as the world around her spun in circles. Her body ached from head to toe. She groaned as she brought her hand to her head, accidently smearing something sticky down the side of her face. She brought her hand down to eye level and examined the crimson red color that had painted her pale fingers. "Ehhh~? You dodged that one pretty well, heh." Lucy looked up from her bloody fingers. She wasn't sure what it was- a shadow, maybe? It disappeared just as quick as it came, sinking into the floor and into her carpet. Lucy scrambled up in a hurry, her breathing ragged from the sudden attack. She was kicked in the stomach and smashed the glass of the window. She slumped to the ground, as the sound of shattered glass rang in her ears.

"Don't die yet~ We haven't had any fun!" It whined. It started to take shape into a young boy, around the age of thirteen. Blonde shaggy hair fell over his dull red eyes; the whites of his eyes were replaced with blackness as he smiled at Lucy. "You have… a delicious scent to you, a lot of light..." He commented as his nose scrunched up. The hair on Lucy's skin stood up as he eyed her, the worst part being that she was only in a _towel_.

Shards of glass from her window spilled around her; Lucy clutched one in her hand as he continued to spout out nonsense she didn't understand. "Old Mr. Makarov seems to be lackin' in his abilities! And that protective barrier or whatever isn't holdin' up too well." He smirked as he stopped pacing around the room in front of her. "He's been harboring some _good _nutrition too, eh?" He licked his lips, the redness in his dark eyes seem to constrict the longer he stared at Lucy. "Why do you look so confused?" He crouched down in front of her and cocked his head to the side like a little child. "Just like how you _feed _off of our remains, you don't think we do the same to you when we kill you?" He laughed loudly and touched the side of Lucy's face.

Without a word Lucy swiped the glass shard across his face, gaining her a brief moment to run. "Well _that _wasn't very nice~!" He sang as he lunged towards her back at alarming speed. Lucy ducked and jabbed the glass shard into his stomach, pushing it in as far as she could. He coughed, momentarily shocked by the sting. Little, tiny light droplets floated into the air, but Lucy knew it was just like a mere scratch on him.

She dashed out her room, not without hearing him growl before she slammed the door shut. Lucy's whole body shook as she slammed her fist against Levy's door, praying that she was in her room.

"Lu-? Oh my god what happened?!" Levy opened the door wider as she saw her friend's bloodied head and bruised cheek.

Lucy was breathing heavily, the adrenaline still kicked in her system as she tried explaining the situation. "Something… attacked me… in my room… a spirit I think I- I'm not sure Levy but-" Lucy clutched her stomach and groaned. The door to her room was blasted broken, making Levy jump in her spot and unconsciously grab Lucy's hand.

"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Levy tightened her hold on Lucy's hand as they dashed down the stairs. It was hard to keep up with Levy, since she had more agility and stamina than Lucy from experience. Levy skipped down the steps and jumped over the railings, Lucy followed clumsily behind her. "No use in running~!" The boy sang. Levy narrowly dodged the shadow that appeared in front of her, pushing Lucy back so she wouldn't run straight into his trap.

"How the heck did he get in here?!" Levy frowned as his form took shape as a human again. A burst of energy from Levy whipped Lucy's hair back, Levy's hazel eyes lightened, giving a slight glow in the dim hallways.

"Oohh! Quite the strong one's in this place!" He licked his lips again, making Lucy's skin tingle uncomfortably.

"Ugh, we gotta get out of this building… and try to cause as minimal damage as possible…" Levy muttered under her breath as she brought her hands out. "Solid Script: Water!" Large, bold letters formed in the space between them and the spirit, and just as Levy had shouted, it formed the word 'WATER'. Levy threw it at the spirit, the words collapsed on each other, turning into water. The spirit cursed, dodging the deadly blow as Lucy and Levy ran to the doors.

"We gotta pull the fire alarm!" Levy shouted as she pointed to the red object hanging off the wall next to the doors. "It'll hurt whatever that thing is- Juvia replaced the fire emergency water systems with her own, so it should ward him off! I'll distract him!" Levy ushered Lucy ahead as she spun around to face her opponent. Lucy dashed as fast as her two aching legs could go. Just as Lucy pulled down on the trigger, the boy sunk back into the ground, disappearing from range. Her vision was flooded with water now as it rained upon them. Murmurs rose from the upper stairs as the girls tumbled down the stairs, looking as confused as ever, and even more so when they saw Levy in torn up clothes and Lucy in her towel.

"Everyone stay here! The first floor is safe! I will go get Master!" Levy shouted over the sound of the water as she tugged Lucy along with her.

"Why won't you just tell them what actually happe-"

"We can't; if _everyone _knew about the world we would be in chaos right now…" Levy pursed her lips with a frown and didn't pursue any further into the topic. Lucy brought her hand to her mouth as she started to cough violently. The rusty taste of blood filled her mouth- the back of her hand was covered in fresh blood. "Oh no," Levy whispered as her eyes grew wide as she finally noticed Lucy's condition.

"I'm fine, let's just… hurry up and go where ever you were planning to go. Probably safer than here." Lucy commented with a ragged breath. The bruise on her cheek was starting to throb painfully.

"Hehehe~ You won't get fa-a-ar~!" Lucy tackled Levy out of the way as the shadow burst up from the ground where they were originally standing. "Now-"

The boy was punched square in the face, shooting him twenty feet back. The flames stuck onto the boy's clothes, but the boy examined them carefully before shrugging them off. "Oh, what beautiful flames…"

"Natsu…" Lucy breathed out in relief, finally leaning her body on Levy for support.

"What will the others do if they see us?"

"I've got you covered- I've already set up barriers, so there's no need to worry about that." Mirajane nodded towards Lucy and Levy as she came towards them.

"I've never seen flames as strong as these before! What a nice change!" The boy gazed up at Natsu admiringly. Natsu lifted his upper lip in disgust, keeping both of his fists on fire as he steadied his stance.

"The hell you doing here squirt?" Natsu growled with disgust, making sure that he had no chance of getting to the three girl's behind him.

The boy smiled as he tilted his head, standing back up as his feet slightly hovered over the stone pavement. "Just doing what I'm told." He darted his eyes towards Lucy and smirked. "After the barrier was weakened, I was finally able to get to her instead of waiting a decade for her to be alone, outside of the school.

"What do you want Lucy for?" Natsu growled. He crouched down lower, like a predator stalking a prey. "You'll have to get through _me _if you want to even lay a finger on her hair."

The boy giggled. "Seems like you were too slow to save your precious gem, the damage has been done." The boy stopped laughing, and rushed right up to Natsu's face in a blink of an eye. "And if you get in my way I will _destroy _you." He disappeared, the dark shadow in the ground swam away as quick as lightning.

"That… that wasn't a spirit, was it?" Levy shuddered, wrapping her jacket around Lucy's bare shoulders.

"… It was." Mira's eyes hardened as she shook her head. "It wasn't your average spirit that we usually deal with though. We call those types of spirits as _youkai_." They were silent for a moment, absorbing in the information that Mirajane had said. "Let's head to the club room to bandage you up and get you in some warm clothes…"

Youkai.

Lucy had heard them before in the books she read, and had asked what they were.

"_Miss Lucy, they are monsters; they show no remorse or have a drop of humanity in them. Well, that is what the legends say."_

* * *

><p>"Ugh… sorry Lucy…" Natsu repeated over and over, Lucy was starting to get tired of her own name.<p>

"_Natsu_ I said it was okay! You can't protect me all the time, and I wouldn't want that either. I'd just be a burden if that was the case." Lucy grumbled back as Erza wrapped the bandage around her head. She winced as Erza tightened it. Her left cheek was slightly red and puffy, but other than that it wasn't so bad. Her right fingers were also wrapped individually; she had cut herself from gripping too hard onto the glass shard.

"I'll definitely find that little bratty squirt and _shred _him up into bite sized pie-"

"Natsu, you don't even know where he is, or where he came from." Erza interrupted him with a sigh.

"Not for long, Erza." Makarov entered the club room, causing the room to grow hush. They separated from their circle around Lucy. He cleared his throat as he gazed at Lucy apologetically. "We have a request from Saber Tooth High." Lucy shuddered at the name and kept her eyes trained on the ground as she listened. "They have a general idea for the cause of these sudden outbreaks, and the invasion of our school, and why the barrier around it is slowly crumbling. I have already assigned some of you to head on over there as a temporary transfer student there to investigate with their team."

Lucy clenched her fists together as Makarov listed off the names of those who were going. "They want the members that have been involved in a certain past event. Erza, Gray, Natsu, Cana, Mira, and Levy shall be-"

"Master." Lucy interrupted in a quiet voice; she was surprised he had even heard her. She could feel everyone's eyes trained on her, making the heat rise to her cheeks. "I- Can I go too?"

"Lucy… I'm sorry but it specifically says-"

"I have someone who wants me over there, at the High School. An old friend requested me to help her school with something also. She sent me a letter, I can show you-"

Makarov cleared his throat and shook his head. "No need for that Lucy. You may join the others as well if that friend of yours is part of the club we are connected with. So, Erza, Gray, Natsu, Cana, Mira, Levy, and Lucy shall be transferring over to Saber Tooth until this problem is resolved. I believe it will take no more than a month, so you may be done by a little over mid-October."

Makarov shifted his eyes over to Natsu, who was staring at Lucy the whole time. Makarov saw the old fire flicker in his eyes, how he was when he was a boy. He was concerned, but it was different this time. Of course Natsu had been concerned over the wellbeing of his fellow school mates, but it had changed after Lisanna's incident. He had always been set out for revenge instead of actually hearing what they really wanted.

* * *

><p>Lucy opened her eyes, seeing her reflection for the first time from the glass wall. She hadn't had this dream in a while, and she was disappointed it had popped up again. She was surprised that she was wearing her school uniform- a white, short sleeved button up with the Academy's crest on the pocket with her gold tie and a plaid red and black skirt. She put her hand on the wall, instead of the ice cold she felt before it was… warm. A familiar warmth.<p>

"Lucy, you've finally came back." Lucy looked to her left and saw the mermaid and scorpion man she had seen from last time. She took a step away from them, the memories resurfacing as it gave her chills.

"Who… who are you?"

"I hope you've been keeping those keys with you at all times, brat." The mermaid scoffed as she poked Lucy. "If one of those spirits get a hold of it you're gonna be screwed."

Lucy blinked, taken aback by her sudden change of manner. "Wh-what? Yeah… the keys. I have them." Lucy had kept them hidden deep in her drawer. "You guys… were there before- but I couldn't get to you." Lucy felt oddly familiar with them, and safe.

The scorpion man cocked his head to the side in confusion. "We've been trying to get to you for at least two weeks, but your safe haven wasn't open until now."

"Safe haven…?"

"God, she doesn't know anything does she?" The mermaid threw her head up in frustration as she groaned. "Are you _really _Layla's daughter? I thought you'd have the slightest clue at least-"

"How in the world do you know my mother?" Lucy interrupted with her hands on her hips. The subject on her mother was always touchy with her, and she didn't know much about her.

The mermaid pursed her lips and smacked them. "Not now, once you're ready I will tell you. You are clearly unstable right now, which is why you're back here."

"A safe haven is a place where you are when you sleep. Although people believe it's where you are most vulnerable- maybe physically you are, but not mentally. No one can attack your head when you're in your safe haven, and that's a pretty big problem when you're an Exorcist. Every Exorcist has one…" The scorpion man tapped his head with a small smile. "Ah, right. Gotta introduce ourselves. I'm Scorpio and that is Aquarius. I'm not sure if you remember but you saved us from that one time at Glowstone Beach."

"Ah, the two rays of light?" They nodded in confirmation. Lucy really had no idea what they were doing here… and the gist of a safe haven.

"Well, I guess you're good for _something_." Aquarius snorted. "Anyway, why are you always at this wall? It's dangerous ya know.

"Eh? Why?" Lucy raised her eyebrows as she returned her attention to the wall. It was thicker now, but you were still able to see the other side, and the dark blobs that bobbed up and down as they wandered aimlessly.

"That's the _Other Side_. Don't ever want to cross it." Scorpio shook his head.

Lucy perked up as he said that. They had mentioned it before when she first saw them, but they seemed to have no recollection of it. "Well, it has a name. The Abyss. Not the best place you want to be at and I doubt you'll last a second if you ever did go over there." Aquarius lifted her head towards the other side. "Don't ask any questions about it, we won't answer you. Just know that you shouldn't have the slightest thought about crossing over there."

Lucy frowned but decided to listen for once. "You mentioned… a safe haven. I come here when I'm unstable you said?"

"Well, you can come here at any time. Your mind just unconsciously goes here when you want to protect yourself from something out of your control." Scorpio commented, tearing his gaze away from the dark blobs. "You have the ability to go wherever you want, Lucy. Remember that." He gave her another sad smile, which made her feel uncomfortable.

"Stop being so sentimental, Scorpio." Aquarius rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Long story short: Think of a place you want to see, and you'll find yourself there." They both turned around, their figures fading with every step they took. "It'll help you in the long run, hon."

"Hey- wait!" Lucy shouted as she chased after them, but they were fading even faster when she tried to catch up.

"Oh, another tip 'cause you're a stubborn one: Don't lie to yourself." Aquarius smirked at her. "You have unresolved issues that you need to take care, and if you keep on lyin' to yourself, you'll just drown in your own self misery."

They disappeared in front of her eyes in a flash, leaving her dumbfounded and confused. "Safe haven, huh… the keys. I had almost forgotten about them too." Lucy had a leather pouch… maybe she could clip it onto her belt and keep her keys in there for wherever she went.

"Think of a place I want to be at, huh." Lucy mumbled distastefully. "Why are they always so vague? Can't they just outright spit out what I need to know?" She sighed and sat down on her spot, resting her cheek on her fist. "A place…" Saber Tooth High School. She wanted to know what the heck was going on with her old friend, and why she wanted her to come back. Lucy closed her eyes and struggled to focus her thoughts on the school. Was she caught up on the events of the school herself or her personal unresolved problems?

"Like I said, don't lie to yourself, pipsqueak." Aquarius's voice rang in her ears as if she had said it right in her ears. Lucy opened her eyes, alarmed by her voice, and even more alarmed to find herself sitting in the hallway of a familiar place. She stood up and looked down at her hands.

…Transparent.

Lucy frantically waved her arm, well she felt herself wave her arm around, but she couldn't see it. She couldn't seem to speak at all, as if her voice was taken away from her. Lucy started to panic, glancing down the hallways and into unfamiliar classrooms as she walked around. Was she _dead_?!

"…coming tomorrow." Lucy whipped her head around and jogged over to classroom 401. She peered through the window and jumped back in surprise.

She was in _Saber Tooth_.

Well, sort of. _A dream, has to be a dream. _Lucy nodded in her head as she peered back into the classroom.

"I hope Lucy-sama will come along with the other members…" Lucy darted her eyes over to the source of the voice- Yukino. Her blood ran cold. Finally seeing her again made her shiver, and not in a good way. "I want to speak to her again."

"Lucy, eh?" Lucy didn't even have to look to see who was speaking. She didn't know if she could handle seeing even a hair on his head without throwing up. "I'd _love _to see that pretty face of hers again." Lucy automatically darted her eyes over to Sting. The tip of his tongue brushed over his upper lip, a nasty smile working its way up on his face. Lucy clamped her hand over her mouth- the nauseous feeling was working its way up her throat.

"I've missed her; we never really did get to talk about it…" He spun a pen around with his fingers as he rested his cheek on his palm. "She left pretty abruptly, didn't she?"

"After all the torment… I do not blame her. It is my fault for not being a supportive friend and helping her seek out for help in the first place." Yukino clenched her blue skirt.

Lucy snorted in disgust, Yukino thought _she _needed help? That sadistic, lying, manipulative-

Sting glanced at the door, as if he could see right there, standing at the door way. She looked down and cursed under her breath as she ducked. Rogue followed his gaze and glared at where she was standing. "Who's there?!"

Lucy stumbled back and fell flat on her butt. She blinked and found herself back in the Glass world, confused more than ever now. Lucy shook her head, what was _that_?

The dark blobs were close to the wall again, some of them even banging on it angrily. She took a step back as she heard their muffled shouts and screaming.

She scooted over to the wall; closer to the dark figures… she didn't know why, it was probably a stupid idea of her to get close to them. She pressed her hands against the glass wall and felt it vibrate against the palm of her hand. The closer she got, the more agitated they became and the banging became more violent. The one in front of her though just stood there, as if it were waiting for something. Lucy brought her face closer to the glass wall and cupped her hands over her eyes to press against the glass. Lucy's breath hitched into her voice as she leaned away from it. The glass in front of her shattered, the air in her throat closed off as a strong, firm grip tightened around her throat, pulling her forward.

Lucy bolted up as she heard a drowning scream ring in her ears. It sounded raw and hoarse. As she touched her throat, she realized it wasn't hers. Lucy peered down next to her bed, where Natsu had insisted on sleeping so he could keep a better eye on her. Lucy got out of bed quietly as crouched near him, shaking his shoulder. He was sweating, his teeth were clenched and his eyebrows were scrunched together harshly.

So she wasn't the only one having a nightmare… well she hoped hers was just one.

She wasn't sure on what she should do. Before they decided to sleep, Natsu had told her to _never _wake him up if he seemed to be having a nightmare, or was struggling in his sleep. He said he was a light sleeper… but if he was woken up in that state, she would be in danger. Anyone who wakes him up while he's struggling in his sleep would be in danger. Lucy wasn't sure about what he meant, but she knew it was for her safety and it would've been better to stay put and let him sleep it off.

She lay back down and covered her head with the blanket. She could hear his pants and struggling noises as if he was drowning. Was it hours? Lucy couldn't tell, and she couldn't handle him being in pain the whole night.

"Hey… Natsu, wake up." Lucy mumbled. It was hard to find her own voice. "Natsu!" She shook his shoulder harder, lightly slapping his cheeks. Lucy wasn't sure if it was a figment of her imagination when he opened his eyes. His pupils were nothing like they were before- two green slits replaced them for a mere second, and suddenly it was as if her nightmare had become a reality. Her head was slammed against the side of the mattress. She pried at the fingers gripped around her throat desperately, her eyes widened as his grip tightened. His pupils were dull, as if no life remained intact.

"N-Na…" She choked out as she squeezed her eyes shut. She opened them again as tears sprung in her eyes.

She had to stay calm, or else she would really die from panicking. He was still sleeping, he was reacting on instinct, and Lucy knew he would never do this to her on purpose.

She released a hand on his wrist and placed it on the side of his face, brushing her thumb across his cheek. She struggled to smile at him, and it probably came out more forced than she had wanted to.

A wave of relief swept over her when his death grip on her broke. Lucy couldn't control her shaky breath and couldn't help but let the tears that filled in her eyes fall. She rubbed her neck; sure that there would be red marks left there. She wasn't sobbing or crying loudly, it was as if she wasn't crying at all, yet the tears still fell. Her hand slipped from her neck as she glanced up at him; his face read complete and utter horror.

"L-Lu… Lucy." He sputtered out, stumbling back away from her. He was shaking from head to toe, the scarf around his neck slipped off, falling onto his lap. Lucy spotted the nasty scar on his neck, and another scar shaped as an X on his bare stomach. "I, I did that." He pointed a shaky finger towards her neck. "Again… I _told _you, Lucy!"

She shook her head and tried to speak, but only a squeak came out of her parched mouth. She covered her eyes and felt her body tremble as she tried to control her tears. She shook her head again. "No, no Natsu it's okay-"

"It's _okay_? Okay? You think it's okay?" He spat at her, his voice growing louder with each word. "Dammit, Lucy!" He growled angrily as he grabbed the scarf and tightened it around his neck. "I _told _you not to wake me up!"

She cleared her throat, absentmindedly scratching at her throat. "You think I can just go back to sleep and see you struggling like that? Hell no!" Her voice was hoarse and weak to her dismay, it sounded pitiful. "Natsu, you didn't do it on purpose-"

"That wouldn't have mattered if I actually did kill you. You're scared, Lucy." He murmured, casting aside his eyes.

"Hey, look at me." She demanded, wiping away the left over tears on her cheeks. She took a deep breath before placing both of her hands on the side of his face, turning them to look straight at hers. "Look. I'm fine. No damage done. I'm alive and I'm breathing and you're okay so we are both okay." His eyes grazed over hers, and he looked so much like a lost child that Lucy couldn't help but wrap her arms around him. She forced a laugh out and laid her chin on his shoulder. "…Want to tell me about the nightmare?"

She stroked the back of his hair with her free hand. It took a while, but he finally returned her hug and wrapped his arms around her stomach, burying his face into her shoulder. She found this familiar, but now their roles were reversed this time. "You're a good friend, Lucy." He mumbled, holding her even closer. She smiled at that, relaxed her posture as she melted into the hug. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" He repeated over and over, cutting off Lucy every time she tried to speak.

"You're the best friend I've ever had, okay?" She spoke over his whispers. "It's okay, I forgive you. It's okay…" She reluctantly drew back from him and offered him a small smile again. "Well, better get rested for this morning, okay?" She hugged him one last time before climbing back into her bed and glanced at him. He shook his head and leaned against the wall of her room.

"I'm gonna stay up, just in case anyone attacks us." It was half the truth, but she knew he was afraid of hurting her again. She rolled her eyes and glowered at him.

"Go to sleep." She ordered. She sighed as she saw his pout. "I _promise _I won't wake you up again."

"Okay, I'll sleep in a bit, I promise." He replied back tiredly and closed his eyes, resting his elbows on his knees. Lucy frowned, but obliged. She was tired, and she did need energy to face Saber Tooth once more. She was silently afraid to go back to sleep- she didn't want to have that dream again, but for some odd reason she wasn't afraid of Natsu. "I'll wake you up if you're having bad dreams…" He muttered under his breath. Lucy frowned at his tone of voice, how many times did she have to say it was okay until he wouldn't kill himself over it?

* * *

><p>Makarov scanned the seven of them, lined up in a row in front of his office. He grunted as he got out of his chair to stand in front of his desk. "I am confident that you all will find a resolve to this chaos, and your family back here will work just as hard." Makarov gave them a confident smile as he gave them a thumbs up. "Make me proud, kids."<p>

Crocus was at least an hour away from Magnolia. Lucy felt uncomfortable for the silence that drifted in the air; their grave faces gave away whatever emotions they had. "What's wrong with everyone?" Lucy whispered to Erza. She glanced at Lucy and gave her a grimace.

"…You'll find out soon enough, Lucy."

* * *

><p>Lucy inhaled the scent of fresh pine and mint with reluctance. That one certain moment destroyed any trace of longing towards this place for her and every single soul at the school. "C'mon, Luce." Natsu gave her a sideways glance. She sighed and caught up to them. The school came into view- Lucy had to look away.<p>

There it was; room 401. Lucy held her breath as the hallway zeroed in on her, the only path she could follow was to that classroom.

"Fairy Tail lads, eh?" Lucy bowed her head low, staying close to Natsu's back as they entered the class room.

No, she shouldn't be weak. Lucy lifted her head and saw Natsu looking at her with confusion. She smiled and waved it off, causing him to shrug. "Welcome to Saber Tooth." A strong, bold voice purred to them. Lucy peered around the heads blocking her view until she could lay her eyes on the person who spoke. She had a devious smile on her purple lips; her hair was loosely strung around her shoulders. "I am Minerva, the leader of Saber Tooth's Mage Exorcism club."

"I am the co-leader." The deep rumble of his voice set Lucy on edge, but she still held her stance. "Sting Eucliffe." His eyes scanned the group until they pierced Lucy's warm, oak brown eyes. A smile formed on his lips. The color drained from Lucy's already pale face, but she look at him with a steel gaze. She gripped the straps of her backpack until her knuckles became white.

"Please, introduce yourselves. Guest first." Minerva ushered them.

"Erza, leader of Fairy Tail's Mage Exorcism club."

"Mira, also the leader of the club."

"Levy McGarden, a member."

"Cana, member."

"Gray, Co-leader."

Lucy took in a deep breath and released it before uttered a word. "Lucy-" She started, and cleared her throat. "a… member."

"Natsu Dragneel." Lucy heard the growl in his voice, her vision of Sting's stalking stares was blocked by Natsu's guarded shoulders. "Co-leader, and I'll kick yer ass if you treat us like underlings, Sabers."

Sting smirked and stuck his hands into his back pockets. Eyeing Natsu curiously. "We got ourselves an hot-headed Fairy…"

* * *

><p><em>! First part of the new arc! :^D Some Saber and Fairy tension here hoh~ I hope this isn't too confusing since I'm just giving out bits and pieces, but it'll all connect together by the end if you're still confused at that point. Unlike the first arc, I think the rest of the arcs will connect together more clearly, so look forward to that!<em>

_Oh, I've also changed their grades and moved them one grade up, so Lucy is a Sophomore instead of a Freshman, which leads to Natsu being a Junior and things like that, just a heads up. I changed them in the earlier chapters too, but if you see a mistake anywhere, notify me!_

_Thank you for reading and for your support! I enjoy reading all of your kind reviews :'^D It really does make my day!_

_Next chapter won't come out for a bit because I gotta work on my other story, and I'm quite busy this week and winter break, but I'll try my best to release the next chapter._

_Don't forget to review~_

_Stay tuned!_


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